Sakura
by firefly171
Summary: RWDM slash...Hatred, curiosity, confusion, desire, resentment, lust, fear, affection, happiness, love, betrayal, helplessness, sadness, pain, frozen, desperation, devotion, loss, rage, tired, numb, hope....These are the components for a...?
1. Year Five: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Untitled (for now)**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: This chapter is more of a PG-13 but the story WILL become an NC-17 in later chapters**

**Warnings: Slash so if two boys snogging bother you I suggest that you don't read this. Also I use a bad word in here somewhere. **

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostley. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 98 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive **

**A/N: **Ok if you have ever read any of my other stories on this site then you will know that I am very good at not finishing them. Even so I felt that this was fairly good enough to share. However I am warning you that it is very likely that I might grow bored with this and stop writing it. If you feel up to risk falling in love with this story then please continue on but if you're going to be one of those annoying people who bitch at me regularly about continuing please go back now (or at least be prepared to be bitched at in return)

**Chapter One**

"This is the last chance I'm going to give the two of you," Professor McGonagall said in her usual stern voice. She walked briskly down the hall leading the two sulking figures of Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy. The hallways of Hogwarts were dark and shadows played in every corner causing a very spooky effect. It was just about past 9 o'clock and the rest of the students were shut up in their common rooms. Ron was sure that the whole of Gryffindor tower was probably sneering and laughing at him right then for getting himself stuck in a detention with Malfoy. He directed a very pointed glare at the spoiled git who continued to glare angrily at the woman in front of them. Unaware of the hole that had to be burning into the back of her head she continued:

"I am very disappointed in the both of you. Whatever possessed you to start brawling in the middle of the library?"

Ron bit his tongue to keep from snickering. Malfoy had entered the library, for what Ron did not know, and upon seeing the golden trio spouted off some sort of "mudblood" comment toward Hermione. Ron had been having a fairly stressful day, what with the horrible two foot essay Snape had assigned for homework and his poor performance in charms, so he got up, rushed Malfoy and punched him square in the nose.

There was blood everywhere.

It was bloody brilliant.

Or at least it was until Madam Pince and Professor McGonagall came around the corner. He guessed Malfoy's girly squeal startled them or something. He figured that he should have been happy that it was her and not Snape, otherwise Malfoy would not be walking next to him and he didn't particularly wish to picture what the evil potions master would have him do for detention. He still couldn't get the smell of pickled rat brains out of those robes. Though thinking about the scars on the back of Harry's hand he wouldn't have been to happy if that Umbridge woman had been there either. No he figured that he was very lucky that it had been McGonagall instead.

Professor McGonagall quickly turned into a room and Ron had to fight back the urge to groan in disgust as he recognized the trophy room. Professor McGonagall however continued through an adjacent door on the other side of the room that led to the armor gallery. She stopped in the middle of the room and turned towards the two boys. Ron could have sworn that he saw her wipe an evil grin from her face as she faced them.

"You're job for tonight, and as many nights as it takes you to finish it, is to polish all of the suits of armor in this room inside and out," she said pausing to make sure that they understood then continued, "without using _any_ magic."

"You have got to be joking," Malfoy said agitated. "It'll take ages to polish all these. There has to be at least fifty of them."

Ron was of the same mind. The thought of spending Merlin only knows how many nights with Malfoy made him feel sick to his stomach. McGonagall, however, only looked at him and smiled faintly.

"Well then Mr. Malfoy," she turned to look at Ron, "Mr. Weasley, I'm sure that the less bickering and the more polishing that you do the quicker you will be finished and free from each other's company." With that she waved her wand and several flasks of polish and a pile of rags appeared on the floor and she started towards the door.

She turned before leaving and said, "I will come for you when I feel you are done for the night." She waked out making sure to close the doors behind her.

For a minute the two of them just stood there staring at the work ahead of them. Without looking at each other each picked up a flask and rag and went to work on separate metal suits. Ron was finishing up on his suits helmet when Malfoy threw the gauntlet to his at Ron's head.

"Oy," he yelled ducking just in time causing the metal glove to hit the wall behind him instead. "What the bloody 'ell was that for?" he shouted standing up, causing the helmet to fall to the floor with a clang.

"You know that this is entirely your fault," Malfoy yelled back.

"Well if you hadn't insulted 'Mione I wouldn't 'uve had to punch you in the face,"

Both drew their wands. They stood there, wands pointed at the other, glaring at each other with utmost hatred in each of their eyes. Something in Malfoy's eyes flickered for a brief second, Ron didn't know why. He thought that Malfoy was trying to make him let his guard down by making him look behind him or something, he didn't know. He was trying to decide between using a bat-bogey hex or a jelly-legs jinx when Malfoy suddenly said, "_Accio gauntlet_." The metal glove that Malfoy had threw at him lifted up and flew through the air, hitting Ron in the back of the head in the process, and across the room where Malfoy caught it.

"Why you son of a-" Ron started, holding the back of his head, but Malfoy cut him off:

"Better off just finishing this as quickly as we can," he said dejectedly sitting back on the floor and resuming his work without looking at Ron.

Ron stood there for a few minutes, too stunned to move or say anything. Finally agreeing that the sooner this was done the better he sat down and continued to polish his armor as well. He couldn't help but feel that Malfoy was up to something though and through out the night kept glancing over at him. Each time Malfoy was just looking blankly at the suit of armor he was polishing and not once looked like he was doing or thinking anything suspicious which, to be honest, only hardened Ron's belief that he was plotting _something_.

Several hours and about six suits of armor later Professor McGonagall returned. She must have been pleasantly surprised that they hadn't killed each other, Ron thought, as she smiled at both of them and said:

"Very good, I think that should be it for tonight. Now I want the both of you meet to me here at the same time tomorrow night so that you may continue. Do I make myself clear?" She looked at the boys expectantly.

"Yes," Ron said gloomily. She looked at Malfoy, and he glared back at her.

"Yes ma'am," he said in a tone like she was forcing him to drink poison.

She nodded, apparently expecting nothing better from Malfoy. "Very well, off to bed now." And she waved them away.

Ron was relieved to be leaving that room behind even though he knew that he'd be back in there tomorrow and probably every other night that week. Malfoy walked a few paces ahead of Ron on their way back down the hall. Ron stared at the back of his pale blond head wondering what had caused him to end their argument so abruptly…especially since he was the one who had started it. He couldn't help but think that it wasn't like Malfoy to pass up the chance to insult Ron for hours on end like that. He didn't even know why it was bothering him as much as it was. No matter, they were coming up to the stair case that would lead them on their separate ways and Ron would need not worry any further about Malfoy's strange behavior.

He had turned to start walking up the stairs when he felt someone grab him from behind. Before he even had a chance to protest his assailant swung him around and pushed him up against the wall. He barely had time to register white blond and cold gray before he felt himself being pulled down slightly and another's lips crashing into his. For a moment Ron was too surprised to do anything and in his hesitation Malfoy slipped his tongue between Ron's lips. The thought to bite down never really occurred to Ron. Although as he came to his senses and pushed Malfoy so hard that that bastard nearly fell backwards down the stairs he really wished that he had. Malfoy regained his balance and looked at Ron with the most disgusting sneer. Ron thought he felt bile begin to rise up in his throat.

"What in the name of Merlin's saggy left…What the…Why…" Ron stammered on like that for several more seconds. All the while Malfoy had the same sneer on his face, looking like his was going to laugh. He seemed to be enjoying Ron's reaction. Without saying a word though he turned and started walking down the stairs, apparently quite pleased with himself, leaving Ron in a horrible state of shock. Ron slid to the floor and brought the back of his hand to his lips, his muddled mind trying desperately to make sense of what just happened as he watched Draco Malfoy disappear around a corner at the bottom of the stairs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So that's it. I wasn't going to post this but I figured it wouldn't really matter so here it is. I have most of this story thought out in my head so if I do stay with it until the end I anticipate it being very long. If I can't think up a really good ending though I'm probably just gonna toss it. So if you like it so far keep your fingers crossed.

I actually had a totally different idea for the first kiss (similar to this but still very different) but when I started writing it out I found that I really hated it. So you guys got this piece of crap instead.

I know that Draco is slightly OOC and maybe Ron is too but lets face it, there's really no way that you can make a good RWxDM story and keep both of them completely in character.

For a little bit this is gonna seem like a typical Ron and Draco gets together fic but don't worry…I'll add some elements to make it a little different and some twists and adventure to make it entertaining. And you can be rest assured that since I am me there will be lots and lots of angst, dark and subtle humor that only I will find funny, and very hot guy on guy action (though probably not as much as most of you would like)


	2. Year Five: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: This chapter is more of an R but the story WILL become an NC-17 in later chapters**

**Warnings: Slash so if two boys snogging bother you I suggest that you don't read this. And believe me there will be snogging Maybe some molestation but we all know Ron likes it.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 98 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book anyway.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 2**

"Oy, Ron…RON!"

Ron snapped back to reality. He pulled his eyes from his eggs and focused them on the source of the intrusion, his best mate Harry Potter.

"What?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"Haven't you've been listening to anything we've been saying," Hermione said exasperated.

No he hadn't. "Course I have," he said rubbing his eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that they were quite bloodshot right now.

Hermione let out a heavy sigh. He could tell she was getting annoyed. "No you haven't," she continued angrily. "You _know_ if you could just hold your temper you would've had plenty of sleep last night."

The thing is she had no idea how much he was regretting punching Malfoy in the face now. He was even starting to think that he _would_ have been better if it had been Snape who walked around that corner after all. After dwelling on Malfoy's disgusting behavior all night he even thought that that Umbridge woman probably would have been better.

"Is she really making the two of you polish _all_ those suits of armor _every_ night until you're finished?" Harry asked leaning over Hermione.

Ron let out a small groan and put his head down on the table, pushing his plate aside. Just thinking about another night with Malfoy alone made him feel sick to his stomach.

"What's up?" Hermione asked, a little more gently this time. Good ol' Hermione. You can always count on her to notice when something's wrong.

"Nothing," he lied not even bothering to lift his head. He wasn't to sure if he should tell his friends what happened. He didn't know what they would say. He didn't know what they would think. He knew how _he'd_ react if it were somebody else and he didn't think that he could handle that sort of embarrassment or rejection.

"Ron?"

"I-_said_-nothing's-wrong-alright?" he said aggravated. "Just drop it." He lifted his head to look at them and saw out of the corner of his eye Malfoy, his pale blond hair unmistakable. Color drained from his face and his stomach began to perform cartwheels. He broke out into a cold sweat and for a split second he thought for sure that he was going to pass out. He couldn't stop his head from turning to look at him and had to fight down the urge to punch himself in the face as his and Malfoy's eyes met. Upon realizing Ron, Malfoy shot him a grin and raised one of his thin eyebrows.

"What the hell does he think he's smiling about?" Harry asked. Both he and Hermione were paying to much attention to the prat to notice Ron's loss of color. Feeling like he was going to be sick at any moment Ron stood up, pulling Harry and Hermione's attention back towards him.

"I-I'm not feeling very well," he said, swallowing hard and wiping his forehead on his sleeve. "I think I'm goin' to head up to the Hospital Wing. Could you tell Professor Flitwick for me?" Without waiting for his friends to answer him he started for the doors.

Once through them he broke into a run up the marble staircase and into the first bathroom he could find, ignoring all the strange looks from passing students. As soon as he entered he threw down his book bag, wrenched open the nearest stall and threw his face into the toilet were he proceeded to puke up all the contents in his stomach, thankful that the bathroom was empty. After he was able to convince his stomach that it was now empty he stood up and walked across the room to the sinks. Turning on a faucet he put his head under the cold running water.

The sound of the door opening and closing brought him back to his senses and he lifted his head, his red hair plastered to his forehead, and looked in the mirror. He was met with cold gray eyes filled with silent mocking laughter. He saw Malfoy take out his wand and point it at the door, followed by the clicking sound of the lock.

Too late Ron realized that his wand was in his bag that was still on the floor now near Malfoy's feet. Malfoy apparently realized this cause he pushed it to the side with his foot making sure that he was between Ron and his wand, his own focused on the redhead.

"What's the face for Weasley?" Malfoy said in his usual drawl, "You act as though I'm going to hurt you." He let out a small laugh. Ron felt heat returning to his face, his ears turning red.

"What do you want Malfoy?" he said turning around, trying to sound dangerous.

"I thought it would be quite obvious," he answered, his voice holding a very patronizing tone. Ron's stomach did a flip flop and his heart caught in his throat, as Malfoy took a few steps towards him, wand still raised.

"W-well it's not," Ron choked. His heart was pounding so fast he thought it was going to explode. Malfoy took a stepped closer and Ron, feeling a small bit of panic, stepped back until his backside hit the sink.

"You can not honestly be so stupid?" Malfoy said with a hint of irritation now. He closed the distance between them, pressing his body against Ron's. Ron's breath caught in his chest as Malfoy, standing on his toes, pressed his lips against Ron's ear and whispered, "I wanted to continue where we left off last night."

He gently took Ron's earlobe between his teeth, grabbing Ron's hands so that he couldn't push him away this time, and ran his tongue over the tender skin. Ron fought slightly but Malfoy held his wrists tightly, surprising Ron with his strength. Malfoy pressed his lips to the skin beneath his ear, nipping at it lightly, and continued with small kisses down his jaw and cheekbones until he found Ron's lips and began devouring them. Ron was stunned, unsure if it was from the kiss' intensity or just from the fact that yet again Malfoy was kissing him. Ron tried desperately to clamp his mouth shut, but failed miserably as Malfoy forced his tongue past his lips and started biting his bottom lip. Ron let out a small moan, much to his own horror. Malfoy took advantage of this small weakness and forced his tongue the rest of the way into Ron's mouth.

Once again Ron's brain froze. He wanted it to send a signal to his jaw to clamp down onto Malfoy's tongue but it didn't seem to be getting the message. He stood there in a daze as Malfoy moved closer, pushing him into more of a sitting position on the edge of the sink. Malfoy slipped himself between Ron's legs, running his hands up and down Ron's thighs. Ron's mind jolted awake as he realized that his hands were now free but it was all he could do to grasp the edge of the sink, trying to keep himself upright. His knees suddenly felt like they were made of jelly.

Malfoy wrapped his arms around Ron's body, burying his fingers into Ron's hair making the kiss deeper, the other hand pressed into the small of his back. He moved his lips down Ron's neck, running his teeth over his adam's apple, smiling at Ron's quick intake of breath. Ron bit his tongue trying to hold back the moan threatening to escape as he felt his nether regions responding to Malfoy's ministrations.

The bell indicating the end of breakfast sounded in the hallway. Malfoy pulled away slightly very reluctantly and looked at Ron whose eyes were squeezed shut and breathing heavily.

He kissed Ron's chin and said, "You'd better get to the hospital wing before you get in trouble for lying." He pulled away from Ron and walked across the bathroom. He unlocked the door and, without looking back at Ron, left.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So here's the second chapter…still nothing big going on but hey oh well. I anticipate this going kind of slow at first….I wrote most of this while I was sitting bored at work. It's been a pretty boring night even though I've had to send someone out to the hospital (don't worry she was fine) and pick someone off the floor (they were good too) not to mention I did the weekly order tonight too….

Any way as I'm sure you noticed I came up with a title for this piece. I know that the title makes no sense right now (even if you know what it means you'll probably be even more confused) but don't worry it will.

I also thought up a really good ending too so I hope that means that I'll be able to finish this one this time. Maybe I'll write the ending chapter tonight so I have a goal to work towards. It might motivate me better…I hope.


	3. Year Five: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: This chapter is more of a PG but the story WILL become an NC-17 in later chapters**

**Warnings: Slash, Angsty-Emo Ron…oh and I use a bad word again.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 98 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book anyway.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

Chapter 3 

Ron slowly made his way through the halls towards the transfiguration classroom. Already he could feel the effects of the calming draught that Madam Pomfrey had given him wearing off. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in the bathroom earlier that morning.

After Malfoy had left the bathroom it took a few minutes for Ron to pull himself together, after which the first thing he did was get reacquainted with the toilet. It felt as though it took an eternity for the heaving to subside but when it finally did he slowly walked up to the third floor to the hospital wing.

Looking him over Madam Pomfrey concluded that he was perfectly healthy and the nausea was just the result of nerves, which of course Ron already knew. She gave him the calming draught and told him to lie down for a bit. Deciding to take advantage of the draught's effect he laid there trying to make sense of Malfoy's repulsive behavior, and his own reaction to it. He couldn't come up with anything other than Malfoy was doing it to fuck with his head, in which case he was succeeding quite well. It took him two seconds to decide that he really didn't want to think about how his body reacted to what Malfoy did. He thought if he did he'd have to admit to something he didn't want to admit to.

Something dirty.

Something that was wrong.

The bell signaled the end of the first lessons and Madam Pomfrey told him that he should be fine to continue with lessons for the rest of the day.

"It's much to early to be getting this worked up over your O.W.L.S. anyway," she had said.

He entered the classroom and went straight for his seat, ignoring the questioning looks from Harry and Hermione. Sitting down he put his head on his desk, burying his face in his elbow. He cursed Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and most of all, Draco Malfoy as he felt the last dregs of the draught diminish and panic take its place. He knew everyone was looking at him. He felt all their eyes boring into him as though they could see all his secrets. He bit his lip as he felt his stomach start churning again and his eyes begin to burn.

"Ron-?" Hermione started but whatever her question was going to be was cut off by Professor McGonagall.

"Ok class, everyone please take out your wands so that we may begin the lesson." There was shuffling as every one complied with the order…everyone except Ron.

"Mr. Weasley," She said when realizing that he hadn't done as she had asked yet, "I'm sorry if my class bores you but I would appreciate it if you could keep yourself awake and at least _look_ like you're paying attention. Now take out your wand."

If everyone hadn't been looking at him before, he knew that they were all looking at him now. He hesitated, face burning from anger and embarrassment. He wiped his eyes on his sleeves, trying desperately to make it look like he was wiping his nose instead, and slowly lifted his head off his desk. He leaned down to take his wand out of his bag, keeping his eyes averted from everyone, and put it on his desk in front of him.

The room was silent for a minute before McGonagall spoke, her voice sounding slightly strange to Ron's ears, "V-Very good. Now for today's lesson we will be practicing…"

Ron kept his focus on his wand and his assignment, again ignoring Harry and Hermione's questions. Finally the two of them gave up and focused on their own work leaving him to wallow in his misery and confusion in silence. By the end of the lesson he had completely forgot what he was trying to turn the damn ferret into. When the bell rang indicating that it was time for lunch Ron packed away his wand and braced for the barrage of questions from his two friends.

They never got the chance though cause as Harry opened his mouth to say something Professor McGonagall cut him off.

"Mr. Weasley," she called from the front of the classroom. "I would like to have a word with you. The two of you may leave," she said indicating Harry and Hermione, "He will join you in the Great Hall shortly."

"See you then mate," Harry said looking at Ron sympathetically. Ron still refused to look at them though and just started walking up to McGonagall's desk.

Conjuring him a chair she said, "Ron please sit down." He was taken back momentarily by her sudden use of his first name. Recovering though, he did as he was told and sat down.

"What is wrong?" she asked with a gentleness that he was not used to hearing from her. For the first time he looked up at her. She wore a concerned expression, not the stern mask that he was so used to seeing. For a second he wanted to tell her. It was on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth to speak but then, afraid of how she would react, what she would say or do, closed it again.

"Miss Granger and Mr. Potter informed me that you were in the hospital wing this morning when they entered my classroom," she said, probably hoping to prompt him into speech.

He nodded. "I-I wasn't feeling good," he muttered.

"And didn't Madam Pomfrey give you anything?"

Again he nodded. "It's nothing really," he said, averting his eyes to an open ink bottle on her desk, "I just didn't sleep good last night is all."

They were both silent then. Ron was sure she knew that he was lying. After several minutes she stood up.

"Very well Mr. Weasley," she said, her usual stern tone returning, "You may go." He stood up to leave. "I will see you later tonight then," she said.

"Yes," he said and walked out of the room. He didn't go to the great hall though. He didn't really feel like talking to Harry and Hermione nor did he really feel up to eating. Instead he made his way up to the seventh floor.

"Mimbulus mimbletonia," he said as he reach the portrait of the Fat Lady and walked into the empty Gryffindor common room.

Throwing his bag onto the floor he sat down in one of the armchairs near the fireplace. He just stared into the flames blankly trying not to think about anything that had been happening. It didn't take long for his head to fall forward as sleep took him into a blissful dreamless void.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N:** Another short chapter…I'm sorry that there was no sexy Ron and Draco action but Ron's having a difficult time coping…he's allowed to be angsty and emo.

But seriously, I probably should try to pick up the pace of this story cause at this rate it'll turn out to be 180 chapters o.O After all, I wanted this to take place through years 5, 6 and most of 7 (though I'm still pretty sure that I'm gonna ignore most of DH)

I do have a question for you guys though as the readers. As this story takes place from Ron's POV I was wondering if I should write some side stories/drabbles that are Draco's POV. That way you can get both sides. It wouldn't be something I'd work on all the time since this, the main story, would be my first priority but I thought it'd be good to get Draco's thoughts through out this too. Or should I just forget about it?


	4. Year Five: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: This is an NC-17 chapter…enjoy**

**Warnings: Lemony Slash, more molestation but again Ron knows he likes it.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 98 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book anyway.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 4**

"I think tomorrow you should go see Hagrid and apologize," Hermione said. Ron didn't respond. He dipped his quill into his inkbottle and continued to copy Hermione's Charms notes. She kept going though, just as she had been since she and Harry woke him up after supper, still sleeping in the chair.

"Honestly Ron. How could you possibly sleep through _two_ lessons?"

"Lay off Hermione," Harry cut in. "You know Ron was tired today."

"But that's no excuse," she said angrily. "He would never have gotten that detention if he had just held his temper."

"You seem to forget that Malfoy was insulting _you_," Harry said.

"Again that's no excuse," she repeated. Turning to Ron she continued, "Ron, Hagrid was _very_ upset that you missed his lesson today. It was his first since he got back from his mission _and_ that horrible Umbridge woman was there doing one of her _god_ awful inspections."

Ron threw his quill down, splattering ink over his notes, and stood up. His brain couldn't handle even something as simple as copying notes. Not with Hermione nagging him like that and the fact that sleep had failed to erase that morning's events from his mind didn't help any either. As if to add to his discomfort his stomach began to rumble reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since that morning, and even that didn't count since he had thrown it all up anyway.

"I'm going to go lay down for a bit," he announced and walked through the common room and up the stairs to the dormitories. He threw himself onto his bed, not very surprised to see Harry walk in after him.

"Is everything all right Ron?"

No, everything was _not_ all right. "Everything's fine."

"Ron, you know if-"

"I said I'm fine!" Ron yelled, turning so that his back was facing Harry. His face felt like it was on fire and his eyes began to sting again. Somewhere in his mind, Ron was kicking himself for being such an asshole to his friends but he kept telling himself that they didn't understand what he was going through. He knew that if he'd just tell them they might be able to help him but he was still too ashamed and afraid to.

Harry didn't say anything further. He stood there for a while, probably glaring at Ron's back. Ron heard him walk through the door and back down the stairs, once again leaving him in blissful solitude.

He looked at his watch. It was seven-forty. He stood up and opened the trunk at the end of his bed. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He didn't feel like getting his school robes dirty. He quickly changed, not really caring if he got in trouble for breaking the dress code, stuffed his wand in his back pocket and headed down stairs.

He ignored Harry, Hermione and all of the other students looking at him like he was a freak and exited the common room through the portrait hole. If he was lucky Professor McGonagall would let him start his detention early so he could get as much of it done as possible and leave early.

When she opened the door of her office she eyed his choice of attire but seemed to catch the idea of it as she gave him his supplies for the night and told him that he knew where to go. He got to the armor gallery, took one of the suits apart, sat down and started polishing. He was just starting on his third suit when Malfoy entered the room. Double-checking that his wand was within reach next to him he continued with polishing, trying not to look at the twit.

Malfoy went to work, staying unusually quiet. Ron dared a glance at him. Malfoy looked like he was in deep thought. He almost looked, Ron thought, like he was confused about something. Malfoy also looked like he was trying hard not to look at Ron. Malfoy must have caught him staring at him out of the corner of his eye though because he turned his head and his eyes met with Ron's.

Images of last night and this morning flashed through Ron's mind and he looked away, his face burning red again. There was no smart ass comment from Malfoy though like he thought there would be. Ignoring this oddity he resumed polishing the suit of armor, hearing Malfoy do the same.

They continued like that for the rest of the detention. They must have gotten done with twelve more suits of armor when Professor McGonagall entered the room. She looked up and down the room and between the two boys, clearly trying to decide something.

"You two have done very well," she said finally. "I think you've learned your lesson so you are dismissed. There's no need for you two to continue tomorrow night," she finished looking at Ron.

"Yes ma'am," he said. Malfoy didn't say anything though. The two of them left the armor gallery and started for the stair case. Ron never felt so relieved to be walking away from a detention. The feeling shattered though as they reached the stair case. Instead of turning to go down, Malfoy turned and started walking up. Ron was too stunned and confused by this that the thought of taking one of his and Harry's shortcuts instead never occurred to him.

Following behind Malfoy, Ron tried to figure out where the Slytherin was going. A part of him wanted to dash past Malfoy and get to Gryffindor tower as fast as he could. Another part of him was to terrified to even try. They reached the fifth floor and Malfoy halted at the top of the stairs. Ron stopped a few steps behind him and grabbed his wand, unsure of what Malfoy was up to.

Malfoy took a breath, turned and walked the few steps down. Malfoy grabbed Ron's hand, the one holding his wand, and dragged him down the fifth floor hallway, passing the statue of Boris the Bewildered. Malfoy stopped and pushed Ron against the fourth door, pressing his body against Ron's, holding his arms on either side of him against the door. Without waiting for Ron to react Malfoy immediately started kissing and nipping at his neck. Malfoy ran his teeth over Ron's adam's apple much like he did that morning and Ron's body let out an involuntary shudder, an uncomfortable bulge once again growing underneath his jeans.

He felt Malfoy smile against his skin, heard him let out a satisfied snicker. Malfoy mumbled the password for the Prefects bathroom and the door behind him opened. Malfoy pushed Ron through, closed the door behind them not even bothering to lock it. He pushed Ron against the wall just inside the door and grabbed his lips with his own. Ron tried to free his hands, tried to push him away, but Malfoy tightened his grip and pressed harder onto him.

"Why don't you just stop fighting it," Malfoy breathed into his mouth. He bucked his hips adding some friction to Ron's growing arousal. "Ignore what that pathetic brain of yours is telling you and just listen to your body. It seems to have the right idea."

Ron parted his lips, allowing Malfoy access, though he wasn't sure why he'd done it. Something in what Malfoy said made sense and what Malfoy was doing felt so good it seemed more a sin to not listen to him. Malfoy attacked his mouth with renewed lustful passion, grinding his hips against Ron's. A small moan escaped Ron's lips as his jaw started working against Malfoy's, their tongues starting a battle for dominance. Ron's fingers went limp and he heard a clatter as his wand hit the marble floor. Malfoy let go of Ron's wrists and wrapped his arms around him instead, slipping one of his now free hands under the back of Ron's t-shirt, with the other he brushed his fingertips under the waist band of his jeans, pushing their bodies somehow even closer.

Panic started seeping into the corners of Ron's mind as he began having second thoughts. Noticing Ron's hesitation Malfoy pulled him from the wall and moved him down towards the floor so that Ron was lying on his back, Malfoy straddling his hips. He moved back and forth against Ron's erection, both their breathing becoming ragged. Ron broke the kiss, desperate for air, and Malfoy immediately began to move down his neck, again running his teeth over Ron's sweet spot again. Clutching at Malfoy's robes Ron let out a strangled sob. He was unsure whether it was from pleasure or shame but tears too began to slide down his cheeks.

Malfoy licked the glistening streaks, tracing them back to his eyes where he placed a kiss on each eyelid. Ron let out another small sob, trying to stifle it. He brought his lips up to meet Malfoy's, burying his fingers in his pale colored hair. Malfoy ran his hands up and down Ron's chest, rubbing his nipples through the fabric of Ron's shirt. Ron broke the kiss with his quick intake of breath and Malfoy moved down, placing kisses down his chest. He lifted Ron's t-shirt to expose his torso glistening with sweat. Kissing and nipping at the exposed skin he made his way back up to a pink nipple which he took between his teeth, running his tongue over it. Ron arched his back at the new sensation, moaning in pleasure.

Malfoy let go with a sharp intake of breath. It took Ron's muddled mind a few seconds to realize that Malfoy had been kneeling over one of his legs. A leg that Ron had just bent and lifted slightly, rubbing it against Malfoy's groin. He started to flatten it back to the floor but Malfoy grabbed it and stopped him.

"D-don't," he said huskily, "leave like that." Doing as Malfoy asked he left his knee bent slightly; Malfoy moved over it and started rubbing his own erection against Ron's leg.

Somewhere in the back of Ron's mind he wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. Draco Malfoy has humping his leg. The thought quickly passed from his mind though as he felt Draco's hand run down his stomach and grope his ever growing, denim clad arousal. Ron yelped in surprise but any protests were cut off by Draco's mouth taking his into another rough kiss. Ron groaned into Draco's lips, sparks flying across his vision. Feeling Draco's hand massage his swelling member and Draco's erection grinding against his knee was almost too much, but he felt himself wanting more.

Draco's hand and body disappeared after a few minutes. Ron opened an eye to see that he had taken his robes off and that he was loosening his tie, the entire time his eye's never left Ron's form. Draco's hands moved to unbutton his own pants and then he moved over Ron again. Panic returned as he felt Draco undoing the button and zipper on his jeans. He moved to stop him but Draco grabbed his wrists again and turned him over so that he was on his hands and knees. Ron's breath came in short gasps as he tried to swallow the lump of fear welling up in his throat.

"You're going to like this," he breathed into Ron's ear from behind. "Trust me." Every part of Ron's being was telling him not to trust Draco though as his mind told him that this was a very bad position.

Draco took Ron's hand and guided it behind him. Fear erupted in Ron's chest as he felt his fingers slip into Draco's pants and around his arousal. Ron's mind went blank as he felt Draco's hand instruct his into stroking the shaft of Draco's penis. When Draco was sure that Ron had gotten the hang of it he removed his hand and brought it around to Ron's throbbing erection. Ron felt Draco's fingers wrap around his shaft, rubbing the tip, massaging his sack. Ron bit his lip, trying not to cry out. Draco begin kissing and biting the back of this neck and around his earlobes. Ron tried desperately to mimic what Draco was doing with his hands, slightly awed at the noises he was making.

Ron cried out as a blinding, mind-numbing wave of pleasure ran through him and he felt himself empty into Draco's hand. Draco removed his hand and replaced it atop Ron's again. Rocking violently against their hands Draco's breathing grew louder in Ron's ear. He heard Draco take one shuddering breath, hold it and then let it out as a long, throaty groan as Ron felt him ejaculate into his hand.

Draco fell to the floor, lying on his side; he dragged Ron down with him. Draco pressed his face into the back of Ron's neck, wrapping his arms around him, resting them on his heaving chest.

Ron forced the horror that was trying to edge its way into his mind back as he drifted into sleep, his mind and body exhausted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N**: So here you are. I hope this is ok. I'm not very used to writing erotic scenes like this so any feedback on that would be helpful. In fact I think I could count the total number of erotic/sex scenes I've writing on one hand, but enough about that.

This chapter is the result of two days of work (writing, proof reading, rewriting)…and my boss is bitching at me for spending too much time on my laptop and not enough time doing my work…as though I actually have work to do. So it might take some extra time to get chapter six up (I'm already done with chapter five it just needs to be tweaked) since I have to prove to him that even without a computer or a book I will not be able to finish any sooner in the mornings.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this. Chapter five will most likely be up later tonight.


	5. Year Five: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Angsty-emo Ron again, Slightly Angsty Draco.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 98 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book anyway.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 5**

Ron jolted awake a few hours later, still lying on the prefect bathroom floor.

Still wrapped in Malfoy's arms.

He lay there, trying desperately to keep himself calm as he remembered how he had gotten there. He carefully tried to remove himself from Dra-Malfoy's arms. In the process Malfoy woke up. He ran a hand over Ron's chest, finding a nipple and running a finger around it, and nuzzled Ron's ear.

"G'morning," he said sleepily. Ron didn't respond. Malfoy rolled onto his back, releasing Ron, and stretched. "What time is it?"

Ron sat up slowly. He couldn't believe how natural Malfoy was acting. Almost like he woke up on the bathroom floor with one of his most hated enemies everyday. Malfoy sat up and draped an arm over one of Ron's shoulders. He grabbed Ron's wrist that had his watch on it and brought it up to his face.

"Five-fifteen," he said putting Ron's arm back down. He stood up and stretched again. "Want to take a bath with me?" he asked looking at the pool-sized tub.

Ron snapped back to reality. He stood up shakily and said, "N-no I don't. M-Malfoy w-what we did was-"

"Incredible?" Malfoy said cutting him off. "I told you that you'd like it didn't I?"

"It was disgusting," Ron finished. For a second Malfoy's face looked strange. He looked almost like he was hurt but then he reverted to being angry.

"Well you didn't seem to think it was so disgusting a few hours ago now did you?"

He was right. Ron knew that he was right, but it still didn't make what they had done right. It was probably one of the worst things that Ron could think of two guys doing with each other. Ron opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say…because he knew Malfoy was right. He had liked it, loved it. Wanted to do it again in fact, and he hated himself for it.

"B-but w-we're-"

"God Weasley," Malfoy said angrily. "It's not like I asked you to marry me for Christ's sake. It wasn't even sex." Ron could tell that he was getting mad, Malfoy's face was starting to turn almost as red as his was.

Ron turned to leave. He didn't want to be there anymore, didn't want to be looking at Malfoy. He walked to where his wand was lying on the floor. Malfoy grabbed him though and threw him against the wall. Ron's head hit the marble with a sickening thud.

"Don't you dare walk away from me," he said menacingly. Dazed, Ron looked at Malfoy and wasn't surprised to see his face contorted into a scowl, looking very livid. What _did _surprised Ron though was the moisture that was collecting at the edges of his eyes.

Draco, realizing the tears himself, turned away from him. Ron was suddenly gripped with a strong desire to take Draco into his arms and kiss away those tears. He shook those feelings from his mind though as he bent down and picked up his wand. He didn't look at Malfoy though as he walked to the door and opened it. As he closed it behind him he heard the sound of some of the faucets turning on.

Not wanting to be caught in the halls this early in the morning and in the state he was in Ron ran the rest of the way up to the seventh floor. Reaching the fat lady he sputtered the password and with out even opening her eyes she swung open. The common room was once again empty, all of the Gryffindors asleep in their dormitories.

Ron entered his room as quietly as he could, thankful that his roommates were all still asleep. He went over to his trunk and took out some clean pajamas. Leaving the room as quietly as he went in he went down to the boys shower room.

He stripped himself of his soiled clothes, turned the closest shower on as hot as it would go and jumped in, swearing as the hot water burned his skin. Immediately he took the soap and started to scrub his whole body, rubbing until his skin turned red and stung. The burning sensation returned to his eyes and he rubbed them too, as hard as he could. It didn't do anything to stop the tears from seeping out of his eyes and over his cheeks, mixing with the water from the shower.

He leaned against the stonewall, burying his eyes into his arm, and tried his hardest to hold back the sobs that were threatening to burst from his lips. He came out of his reverie as he heard the shower room door open and another shower turn on. Deciding that he was done he turned the shower off, dried himself and pull on his pajamas. He walked back up to the room, crawled into his bed and pulled the curtains shut.

Laying down he pulled the comforter over his head. Stuffing some of it into his mouth, he buried his face into his pillow…and cried himself back to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N:** I'm sorry that it's so short and that the boys are so emo. I was originally going to make this part of the last chapter but that one was getting to long and I really wanted this to be separate…not that it really matters now since I'm posting less than 24 hours after the last one.

Now that I've reached this point the story should pick up…I hope.


	6. Year Five: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Look if you've gotten this far and you still don't know this is a Slash fic then you just need to go die somewhere. Oh and as always, emo Ron.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 96 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book anyway.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 6**

The morning after when Ron woke up he refused to get out of bed and missed all of his lessons. His stomach felt like it was tied in a knot that was tied too tight and all day he had a prickling, burning sensation behind his eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in the prefect bathroom. Several times images would flash through his thoughts and his stomach would give a lurch. He'd end up running to the bathroom to set himself mostly into a fit of the dry heaves as his stomach would painfully remind him that it had been empty since the morning before. Once these subsided though, he immediately trudged back into the room and threw himself back into his bad, pulling the covers over his head. After lunch Harry and Hermione came up to check on him. Hermione of course chided him for missing classes.

"All because you didn't get enough sleep last night," she said.

"Hermione I don't think that's got much to do with it," Harry said in his defense. Ron gave a little groan and dug himself deeper under his comforter, wishing that they would just go away.

"He's missing important lessons though Harry," she continued, "Professor McGonagall told us that _that_ was very likely to show up in our O.W.L.S. exams."

"But if he's not feeling well…" Harry started but she cut him off:

"Then he should go to the hospital wing," she said. "Madam Pomfrey can give him something and then he can finish classes for the day." She looked at the lump that was Ron, "Honestly Ron, you can't miss _another_ of Hagrid's lessons."

Sure he could…Malfoy was going to be there.

Harry was about to say something else but then the bell announcing the end of lunch rang. He and Hermione tried once more unsuccessfully to urge Ron out of bed, but gave up and went about their day. Ron slept restlessly for the rest of the day and night.

The next day not even Harry would allow him to spend another day isolated from the rest of the world. After being unceremoniously pulled out of his bed and onto the floor by his best mate Ron concluded that he had had enough time mourning the loss of his innocence. As long as he didn't find himself alone with Malfoy he figured he'd be fine…in theory anyway. He ignored the small part of him that jump with excitement at the very thought of Draco Malfoy.

Breakfast passed with no problem. Ron was able to eat three good sized waffles, two fried eggs, four pieces of bacon and four sausages with Harry and Hermione staring at him in astonishment. After he had stuffed himself silly he dared a glance towards the Slytherin table. Malfoy wasn't there. He held back a sigh of relief but in the pit of his stomach, or at least he hoped it was his stomach, he felt a pang of disappointment.

The Golden Trio got up and started for the doors. When they entered the entrance hall Malfoy was walking up the stairs from the dungeons, flanked by his ever present bodyguards Crabb and Goyle. Malfoy and Ron's eyes connected and the disappointment Ron had felt was replaced with jubilation mixed with fear, anger and shame. His face and ears grew hot as Malfoy sneered and changed course so that he was walking strait towards him. Ron fought the urge to reach for his wand, even as he noticed Malfoy pull something from his pocket.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion for Ron. Malfoy continued to walk towards him, talking to his cronies, acting like he hadn't even seen Ron and then, before Ron could think to move out of the way, his right shoulder collided with Malfoy's. He felt Malfoy's hand push something into his own, felt his fingertips brush against the back of his hand for a brief second and then it was gone. Malfoy swirled around to face the redhead:

"For Merlin's sake Weasel," Malfoy scoffed. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Sod off Malfoy," Harry said angrily.

"Just ignore him," Hermione interjected, more so towards Ron than Harry. Ron however was too stunned to really say or do anything. He stood there red faced staring at Malfoy, his stomach and head a jumble of thoughts and emotions. Harry grabbed his shoulder and he felt like he crashed landed back into reality as he let Harry turn him away from the pompous git. His stomach suddenly started to turn and he began to wish that he had not eaten so much at breakfast.

They reached Professor Binns' classroom and sat in their seats. The rest of the desks sat empty. As Harry and Hermione got parchment and quills out he took the time to glance at what Malfoy had given him. He opened his fingers to see a small slip of folded paper. He slipped in his pocket as Hermione began to speak:

"So Harry, what are we going to be doing during the DA meeting tonight?"

"What?" Ron couldn't help but let it slip. Hermione looked like she was going to strangle him.

"All that time you spent in your bed yesterday and you didn't even so much as glance at the coin?"

No he hadn't and he had to admit that he'd probably forgotten _Dumbledore's Army_ even existed. "I was sick." She let out an aggravated sigh as more students began filing into the room.

History of magic was as boring as ever and Ron felt his mind wandering towards the piece of paper that was in his pocket. He had an immensely huge urge to rip it up and not even bother with it but at the same time he couldn't help but be curious as to what was on it. The bell rang, indicating the end of class. The three f them packed up and started down stairs for the dungeons. Before they reached the marble stairs Ron slipped into a bathroom, the one Malfoy confronted him in a couple mornings ago, telling Harry and Hermione that he'd meet up with them. He stepped into a stall, closed and locked it and sat on the toilet seat. He took the piece of paper and unfolded it. On it Malfoy had written a simple note:

_Meet me in classroom 11 before curfew tonight._

He turned it over, looking for something else but that was it. He stared at it, dumbfounded. Malfoy wanted to do that _again_? No, his brain told him, he wants to go further than that probably. His insides gave a little leap, from apprehension or excitement he wasn't sure but he thought it might've been a little of both. He also thought maybe this was some sort of joke. That Malfoy would wait for him to show up, have a great big laugh and then sick his goonies on him. Ron, however, was pretty sure that wasn't what Malfoy was playing at though.

Realizing that he still needed to get to potions though, he stuffed the note back in his pocket and ran out of the bathroom. He sprinted down the stairs and just made it through the classroom door as the bell rang.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't we?" Snape said from the front of the room. "If you had dawdled just a few seconds more you could have been keeping me company this evening sorting out some flobberworms. What a pity." Several Slytherins snickered. Glancing at Malfoy Ron was surprised to see him looking at him with one of the most serious expressions he had ever seen on the pale boy's face. Ron got the impression that Malfoy was angry with him for nearly getting himself a detention when he was supposed to be meeting with the Slytherin instead. Again his stomach clenched as he remembered the note in his pocket. He took his seat next to Harry and got his equipment ready.

Through the entire lesson he couldn't help but think about the note and ponder on all the possibilities that Malfoy would want to meet with him for, though common sense told him he already knew what. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts he completely forgot what he was supposed to be making and so it came as no surprise that he received a zero for the lesson.

"What on earth where you doing in there?" Hermione asked as they exited the dungeons and started for the great hall. Ron of course didn't answer. He was to busy staring at the back of Mafoy's head, who was farther ahead of them walking with his guards, trying to see into his thoughts. She kept going:

"I mean honestly Ron, that potion didn't even call for essence of belladonna."

What did Malfoy want with him? Why was he suddenly so interested in Ron? Why did he have to be interested in him in _that_ way?

"Ron, are you even listening to me?"

Was he going to do as the note instructed and meet him or was he just going to ignore it? They had a DA meeting that night. Would he skip it in favor of snogging with Malfoy?

"Ron?"

But they were usually done with the meetings before curfew anyway. If he made it out of there early enough he could maybe manage to get to room eleven on time. Although that wouldn't give them much time to do much of anything.

"Ron?!"

But was that really so bad? Did he even want to do anything like that with Malfoy? He and Malfoy were both…it just wasn't right for two…what they'd done before was disgusting, repulsive, revolting…WRONG!!

Wasn't it?

"Oy Ron," Harry said grabbing his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Ron didn't answer him though. He just stared blankly ahead as Draco's form disappeared between the great doors leading into the great hall.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Wow this turned out longer than I thought it would. But that's a good thing. I'm probably going to be working on this story only on my nights off now since my boss is being an asshole. All of my other free time is probably going to go towards working on my new LOTR music video (fan-made of course) that I've just recently started. I've been itching to edit something lately and all of my other video ideas that I've started have gone kind of stale. Don't worry that doesn't mean I'm losing interest in writing this, it just means that updates are likely to start coming even slower…Sorry.


	7. Year Five: Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Look if you've gotten this far and you still don't know this is a Slash fic then you just need to go die somewhere. **

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. I haven't finished reading DH yet but I'm 96 percent sure I'm going to ignore all events in that book anyway.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 7**

Ron continued down the marble staircase, trying to look as casual as he could. He found that to be difficult as he thought about where he was going and why he was going there. He looked around the entrance hall as he made his way into the corridor, making sure that nobody was following.

He couldn't believe he was actually going. He had argued with himself all through the rest of the day's lessons unable to concentrate on anything else. He was so nervous and sick from anxiety he wasn't able to eat anything at lunch and he had to leave the great hall during dinner when Malfoy walked in. Just seeing him caused Ron's stomach to flop around and it took everything he had not to run into the bathroom every time he saw his pale head walk into view.

When it came time for them to start heading for the Room of Requirement he told Harry and Hermione that he wasn't feeling up to it that night. Neither one of them was happy about it but didn't really question him. They knew they couldn't deny that he had been sick the last few days. Once they had left he lied in his bed and dug out the note, studying it, trying to find any hidden messages. There weren't any.

Finally, after convincing himself that he was going to tell Malfoy off and end this…thing, he left Gryffindor tower and started for the ground floor. That was at almost eight o'clock. It was now just passed eight-thirty. Needless to say he continued the argument even as he was making his way down.

Reaching the class room he took another look around to again make sure that nobody had followed him. Reassuring himself that he was in fact alone he turned the doorknob and entered the room…to find it very Malfoyless.

He closed the door behind him and walked further in, looking everywhere, even opening the closet. Malfoy hadn't shown up yet…or Ron had hesitated to long and he had decided to leave. Looking at his watch again Ron saw that it was eight-forty-two. Had Malfoy been there and simply grew tired of waiting. Ron wouldn't put it past the stupid prat. Ron sat down in one of the desk chairs. He thought that there couldn't be any harm in waiting a little while to see if Malfoy showed up. He found a dirty spot on the wall and focused on that, trying to keep his mind blank. He didn't want to dwell on what would happen if Malfoy really did show up.

After what felt like forever Ron looked at his watch again…eight-fifty-six. Ron stood up and stretched, all of the tension and anxiety leaving his body like a tidal wave. Malfoy didn't show up after all. Ron should have guessed that he was all talk. He started for the door when he heard the click of the door handle turning. He stopped as he watched the door open and had to hold back a frustrated groan as Draco Malfoy walked in and closed the door.

Again he felt that strange feeling of euphoria as his and Malfoy eyes meet. Blue met icy gray and Ron felt all argument flee from his mind. The two of them stood there staring at each other, both looking at the other in surprise. Ron thought that Malfoy looked more like he had seen a werewolf; his face looked a little paler than usual. Malfoy had obviously not expected Ron to show up. A tingly feeling rushed through Ron's body, a feeling not overly unpleasant but one that still caused a nervous knot to form in his stomach. Draco took a deep breath, almost like he was trying to brace himself for something unpleasant, and strode across the room towards Ron.

Ron's body seemed to react on it own. As Draco reached him, pressing their bodies together, Ron's arms wrapped around his smaller frame. Ron pressed one of his hands into the small of Draco's back while with the other he ran his fingers through the short strands of hair at the base of his neck. He brought his lips down on Draco's, not rough like all the other times; this kiss was soft and gentle, almost loving. Draco breathed a sigh as he started to kiss back, bringing his arms up and wrapping them around Ron's neck.

That's about when something started poking at the back of Ron's mind. He pushed it back. He didn't want to think about what it might be. He really didn't want to think about anything. He tried to concentrate on the kiss, letting his instincts take over.

Draco started pushing him towards the large desk in the front of the room. Ron followed without protest. He felt the edge of the desk bump against the back of his legs. Draco pushed him down so that he was sitting on the desk. Situating himself between Ron's legs he pushed his stomach against Ron's groin. Ron felt himself starting to panic again as Draco broke the kiss and started to move down to his neck. He tried to take some deep calming breaths but still felt the panic pushing at the corners of is mind as he felt his pants start to grow tighter.

Draco gently pushed Ron so that he was lying on the desk. He pushed him further up so that his whole body was supported by the wooden surface. Draco climbed up so that he could straddle Ron's stomach. He brought his mouth down to bring Ron's back into another kiss, this one filled with the same rough passion from the other times before. Draco started working on the front buttons of Ron's robes, pushing them open. He ran his hands up Ron's body and undid his tie. Throwing the piece of cloth aside he attack Ron's neck again as he started to pull his shirt up so that he could run his hands over his torso.

Ron let out a moan as Draco found and teased one of his nipples, nibbling a spot on his neck in the process. Draco slid down a bit so that his and Ron's now growing arousals rubbed against each other.

"Dra-" Ron's hand flew to his mouth before he could finish his outburst. Draco however stopped, his lips hovering above Ron's neck. He lifted his head and looked up at Ron. Ron wasn't able to read the other boy's expression so instead squeezed his eyes shut as Draco started to move back up. He removed Ron's knuckles from his mouth and brought his lips back down but stopped less then an inch from Ron's mouth.

"Go ahead," he said softly. "It's ok." Ron thought otherwise though. It was bad enough he was here like this with Draco. He didn't want to make it any easier for anybody to find them like that. Again a nagging feeling came over Ron telling him that something was wrong. It was thrust out of his mind though as he felt one of Draco's hands run over his erection. He had to swallow back a gasp.

"If it feels good let me know," he continued, his lips brushing against Ron's. Ron moaned into Draco's mouth as he felt the blonds hand begin to stroke him. It was only for a few seconds though as Draco pulled his hand away. He started moving down again, his hands sliding Ron's pants down over his thighs, exposing his hard member.

Ron shot up into a sitting position. He didn't like were this was going. Snogging was on thing and had been bad enough and wanking had caused him enough emotional trauma. Now Draco was undressing him and he found that the vulnerability of it left him feeling absolutely terrified. Draco's lips were on his again, as though he was trying to kiss blissful calmness back into him. Ron however wanted him off. He didn't care how good if felt, he wasn't ready for something like this.

"Shh," Draco tried to soothe him. "It's ok. Trust me."

"No," Ron half-moaned, trying to push Draco off of him. Draco refused to budge though. He ran his hands up Ron's thighs towards his arousal.

"Ron," Draco groaned into Ron's mouth, begging. The sound of that voice saying his name nearly did him in but then something exploded into the front of Ron's memory.

Harry had the Marauder's Map.

Ron shoved Draco off of him and he landed with a loud thud upon the floor. Ron stood up, pulled his pants up and started fixing his robes. How could he have been so stupid?

"What the hell was that for?" Draco yelled pulling himself up off the floor and fixing an angry scowl on the red head.

"Harry knows that we're here," Ron blurted out. He looked at his watch. It was already nine-fifteen.

"And how would he know that?" Draco asked.

Ron cursed. He knew he shouldn't have come down here with Malfoy. Harry would have already noticed the two of their dots on the map by now. After all, the Hufflepuffs had to pass pretty close to that spot to get to their common room. He and Hermione could already be on their way though they would most likely assume that he and Malfoy were fighting. He ran his hands through his hair, wanting to pull it out. He started for the door.

"Weasley," Draco growled angrily. He grabbed Ron's wrist to stop him from walking away…again.

"Look I can't tell you how he knows," Ron said, rounding on him, unable to hide the panic in his voice, "just that he does and will more than likely be on his way." Draco stared at him for a minute. Ron could tell that he didn't believe him. That he thought Ron was just trying to get out of what they had started.

"Fine," he said finally, sounding rejected. "You'd better not be lying to me though…or else." He let go of Ron's arm. Ron turned back to the door. His hand was on the door knob when Draco put his hand over Ron's and wrapped his other arm around him from behind. Draco stood on his toes so that he could reach Ron's ear and said, "Just so you know, this isn't over yet."

Ron swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and opened the door. Breaking away from Malfoy he walked out of the classroom and down the hall as fast as he could, making sure to be quiet and looking out for Filch and his stupid cat. He didn't look back at Draco.

He was too afraid that if he did…he wouldn't be able to walk away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: And there you have it. I don't know why this chapter was so hard to write…but it was. OMG I can't wait until I reach Christmas and Valentines Day…I want to write those parts sooooooooo bad!!

Just so you know the first part of this chapter was written this morning after I only got two hours of sleep and while my landlord was drilling a hole in my bathroom wall...so if it sucks…I'm sorry.


	8. Year Five: Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Yup…it's still Slash, Angsty Boys, Bastard Harry **

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Mayby some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 8**

Ron felt his back hit the wall as Malfoy pressed their bodies together. Before he could protest Draco was kissing him hard, seizing Ron's hair to deepen it. Like all the times before, Ron felt himself melt into it. Wrapping his arms around the smaller boy he tried to pull him closer. Draco slipped his hand into Ron's robes, tweaking one of his nipples through his shirt. Ron broke their kiss with a sharp intake of breath. Without missing a beat Draco moved down to his neck.

The sound of giggling girls reached Ron's ears. Panic flooded through him as he grabbed Malfoy's arms and pushed him away. He walked a few steps away, trying to look normal while still listening. The giggling moved up the hall, passed behind the tapestry, and disappeared. Ron turned to see Draco leaning against the wall looking at him with a very vexed expression on his face. Ron didn't say anything. He turned and started walking down the stairs, straightening his robes. Malfoy didn't follow.

That's how it had been since their meeting in classroom eleven nearly a month ago. Ron had managed to get back to the common room before Harry and Hermione that night but not before Harry had indeed noticed his and Malfoy's dots in the unused classroom. As nervous as he was he found that it was easy enough to lie his way out of it, saying the only thing he knew they would believe. For about a week after that he did his best to avoid Malfoy, making sure he didn't go anywhere by himself.

The first time he let his guard down Malfoy was there of course. He had forgotten something back in a classroom and went back to get it. It was the first time Malfoy had pulled him into that hidden staircase…and ever since then Ron had been unable to deny him. It was only during the day, in between lessons. Hands roamed but clothes generally stayed on, though not from Draco's lack of effort.

As the weeks wore on Ron was finding it more and more difficult to hide it from Harry and Hermione. They knew he was hiding something. He felt miserable lying to them but he knew that they wouldn't accept it. He struggled with what he was doing with Malfoy. He found it hard to sleep at night, his thoughts filled with what they had done. How he desperately wanted to stop but couldn't bring himself to tell Malfoy off. Every time he saw the blond he felt a surge of excitement in the pit of his stomach, followed almost immediately by nausea and shame, and then they were there, in that hidden staircase. The only problem was that almost all the Gryfinndors and Ravenclaws knew about that staircase so Ron was constantly panicking at the slightest sound of footsteps approaching, much to Draco's dislike.

He rushed down the halls and just managed to slip into his seat in Professor McGonagall's class room when the bell rang.

"How wonderful of you to join us Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said from her seat at her desk. "I do hope that my lesson is not interfering with your busy schedule." Ron felt his face turn red as half the class broke out in low snickers.

He glanced at Harry and Hermione. Both of them were staring at him with questioning looks. He was quickly running out of excuses for his constant near tardiness. Taking out his wand he adjusted his attention to the front of the class where it stayed for the remainder of the lesson.

"Honestly Ron, what on earth has gotten into you lately?" Hermione asked as they made their way to the great hall for lunch. Ron, distracted by thoughts of Draco, bounced back to reality.

"What?"

"You see?" she said, sighing in frustration, "That's what I'm talking about. You're always distracted by something, you're constantly late for classes, you disappear during breaks, and your grades are slipping…honestly Ron what's been going on?"

"Nothin's going on," he said, quick to defend himself. Harry and Hermione stopped walking and the both of them looked at him.

"Ron," Harry started, "you know if there's anything that's been bothering you-"

"Or if you're in some sort of trouble," Hermione added.

"Right…or if you're in trouble you can tell us. We can help you."

For an absurd second Ron contemplated telling them…but thinking that they wouldn't be able to help him and still afraid that they wouldn't understand or that they would hate him he kept quiet.

"I'm fine," he lied and turned to continue walking, feeling particularly miserable. He didn't think he was going to be able to eat lunch as he felt his stomach began to perform the now familiar flip flops.

Sitting at the Gryffindor house table though, he tried to eat as much as he could so Harry and Hermione wouldn't badger him. The most he could mange was a few bites. The rest he was forced to push around on his plate while they weren't looking to make it look like he had eaten more. He looked over at the Slytherin table to see Malfoy laughing at something stupid he himself must have just said. He couldn't understand how he could act so normal despite what they were doing in secret.

Draco must have realized Ron looking at him as he glanced at the red head and shot him and unreadable grin. Ron looked away, his face starting to feel hot again as he tried to stifle the thought of how cute Draco actually looked laughing like that. He stood up and told Harry and Hermione that he was going to the bathroom. Before they could question him he turned and walked out of the great hall. Reaching the nearest bathroom he turned on a faucet and splashed his face with cold water.

"Problem Weasley?" Ron spun around, water dripping from his face. He hadn't even heard Malfoy come in. "Oh don't look like that," he drawled, "I just want to talk."

"'bout what?" Ron asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

"About us," he said, slowly walking towards Ron.

"And what if there is no _us_," Ron spat at him. It wasn't like Malfoy to want to talk anyway. He usually just wanted to skip right to trying to rip Ron's clothes off.

Malfoy responded with a laugh. He closed the space between them and leaned into Ron. Standing on his toes he rested his forehead on Ron's, their lips ever so lightly brushing against each other's. Ron couldn't help himself; he pushed his lips against Malfoy's, relishing the taste of it.

"I know of a quiet place where we won't be interrupted," Draco mumbled into the kiss. Ron didn't respond. Instead he brought his arms around Draco, pulling their bodies closer. The bell signaling the end of lunch rang but neither one of them broke the kiss. That is, not until they heard the door open and someone enter. Ron grabbed Draco by the arms and moved him away and looked at the door…coming eye to eye with Harry. Horror surged through Ron as he watched his best friend's initial shock turn into angry disgust.

"Sorry," Harry said curtly, "didn't mean to interrupt." With that he turned and walked out.

Leaving a just-as-shocked Malfoy, Ron started after him, yelling for him to wait.

"I can explain," he said as he caught up.

"Don't think I want to hear the details of that explanation," Harry said angrily still walking as fast as he could, like he was trying to escape from what he just saw.

"But you don't understand," Ron tried again.

"Oh I think I understand perfectly," Harry answered, not bothering to look at Ron.

"NO YOU DON'T," he yelled stopping in the middle of the hall. Several students stopped as well, wondering what all the commotion was about. Ron felt his self reaching the edge of hysterics. Harry didn't even want to hear what he had to say. Harry-you can tell me anything-Potter wasn't even going to listen to him.

"What is there to understand?" Harry spat, rounding on Ron now. "For heaven's sake Ron I just saw you snogging Malfoy!"

Ron's voice caught in his throat. Already Ron could hear murmuring from the surrounding students. Harry's face still held a look of disgusted hatred, as though he felt no remorse for what he just done….What he had just started. Harry turned and walked away, leaving Ron standing there.

"Hey isn't that Gryffindor's new Keeper"

"Malfoy?...Does he mean Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah you're right. What's his name?"

"Snogging him?...Is he serious?"

"I think it's Weasley."

"Ewww that's really gross."

Trembling, Ron had no choice but to walk through the crowd of students in the opposite direction, patches of whispered conversation reaching his ears. He felt an enormous amount of pressure in his chest as well as a tight knot in his stomach. His eye's burned almost as much as his face and ears and it didn't take long for it to seem like he was trying to see under water.

"Ron?" Draco was waiting for him near the bathroom that he and Harry had just fled from.

"Don't talk to me," Ron croaked. Draco didn't listen though as he grabbed Ron's wrist.

"DON'T TOUCH ME," he yelled, throwing Draco's hand off and rounding on him. He was almost surprised to see a look similar to concern on Malfoy's face, but chose to ignore it.

"_This is all your fault_," he said venomously. Draco didn't respond though as Ron noticed moisture collecting at the edges of his gray eyes as well. Ron could feel his own tears threatening to break free but did his best to hold them back. He turned his back on Malfoy and started to walk away.

"Ron wait." Ron didn't though. He kept on walking, refusing to look back at Draco.

"RON!!"

Ron felt his resolve wavering as he felt the first tears slide down his face but broke into a run and kept going.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Yeah I was going to make this longer but this seemed like just the perfect spot to break. Sorry if you guys that like Harry hate this twist. I actually have to confess that I greatly dislike the boy…I don't know why so don't ask either.

I also finished the seventh book and I must say that now that I'm finished with the whole series I still don't understand the big deal. To be honest I didn't really like JKR's way of writing it…not to mention her characterization is atrocious…the only exception being Harry of course. There's very little character building until the last few books and that's really the thing I enjoy most in a story. Though I am happy that I read the books so that I could get the rest of the story that the movies left out


	9. Year Five: Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Yup…it's still Slash, Angsty Ron **

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Mayby some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 9**

He stared blankly at the stone wall in front of him, all its cracks and grooves etching themselves into his memory. Beneath him he felt the chill of the floor, made of the same stone as the wall, seep through him, deepening his feelings of anguish and humiliation. Closing his eyes he brought his head forward so that his chin was touching his chest and taking in a quick breath he brought his head back again. Pain filled the back of his head as it once again met with the hard wood of the door behind him. His eyes flew open and he looked up at the ceiling, trying to suck the tears threatening at the edge of his vision back in.

_They were doing_ what

Even running it had seemed he couldn't out run the wave of whispers and murmurs already flooding the halls. Every student he had passed looked at him, all in shocked disbelief or disgust, sometimes a mixture of both. Around every corner he heard mention of his and Malfoy's names, most often in context with something vulgar. It seemed that even people he couldn't remember ever seeing his entire life were able to point him out within seconds. Suddenly he wished that he could be rid of his trademark Weasley red hair and freckles, or that he had never joined the Gryffindor quidditch team, or that he'd walked a little behind Harry more often.

_But I thought they hated each other. Maybe they were just fighting._

He suddenly wished with such intensity it scared him, that he had never even met Harry Potter. He wished that he had never sat next to him on the Hogwart's Express that first time.

_I'm sure any idiot can tell the difference between fighting and shagging._

It didn't take to long for the story to change and become exaggerated. By the time he reached the fifth floor people were already relaying grotesque details that obviously never happened. Ron did his best not to look at any body as he continued down the halls, trying to find someplace were the rumors hadn't yet spread, someplace he could think.

_That's so gross!!_

He accidentally bumped into another student. All Ron could make out of him was that he was big because before he could turn and apologize the boy shoved him so hard that he went flying forward onto the floor. His nose connected with the marble floor, blood spurt out of it and tears sprung to his eyes as pain shot through his face. All he could make out of the boys remark was "Fucking queer" before the laughter erupted from the surrounding students. Red faced and burning with anger and shame Ron stood up and continued down the corridor, holding his nose and trying to stifle the bleeding.

Finally he made it to the seventh floor and finally he heard the bell announcing the start of the next lesson ring. All students disappeared from the corridors, except Ron. He kept walking, passing the portrait of the fat lady who called after him, scolding him for not being in class.

He walked until he came to the moving tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. He watched the ridiculous attempt of trying to teach the trolls ballet for a few seconds and turned to look at the wall across from it. He walked passed it, concentrating on a place to get away from everything. When he reached the end of the hall he turned and walked passed the space of wall again, still concentrating. He turned and walked passed it a third time and when he turned again there was a door. Without hesitating he opened it and went in. What he got was the room he was sitting in now, no bigger than a broom closet.

And there he still sat, staring at the wall, dried blood caked onto his lips and chin. He looked at his watch. It was nearly diner time. He didn't think he'd be able to survive a meal in the great hall, and he wasn't very hungry, but he figured he had to get up and do something, anything. He stood up and exited the room.

Walking down the corridors he could still hear hushed whispers as he walked passed, these from the paintings hung on the walls. Ignoring them as best he could, they were only paintings after all; he entered a bathroom that was empty.

Turning on a faucet he washed the blood from his face and hands and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He wasn't surprised to see his red eyes and red cheeks against the paleness of his skin, causing an odd looking complexion. As he stood there looking at himself he heard the bell announcing the end of lessons for the day and the start of dinner. Through the door behind him he could hear the students filing into the corridors.

He stood there until it sounded like most of them had dispersed before he turned and walked through the door. The faster he got this over with the better. As he thought, the few students that he passed grew silent as he came within earshot only to pick up their hushed conversations when they thought him far enough not to hear. Slowly he made his way down.

When he reached the marble staircase that lead to the Entrance Hall, the noise from the great hall reached his ears and he suddenly wished he had stayed in the Room of Requirement. Walking down he saw groups of students outside the doors meeting with each other. Most of them stopped talking as they saw him coming. He tried to look calm, tried to look normal. He walked by the doors and glanced in. All four of the house tables were full.

Panicking he picked up the pace and kept walking. He reached the great double oak doors and without a second thought opened them and walked outside, only to be hit with a wind so cold he felt as if the blood in his veins had frozen instantly. It was snowing so heavily that Ron could barely make out anything only inches from his face. Swearing at his stupidity he tried to wrap his school robes tighter around himself.

He squinted his eyes, trying to see through the snow. He though he could almost make out lights coming from the direction of Hagrid's hut. Knowing that he couldn't go back in now without looking like a fool and the image of the full dinning hall still fresh in his memory Ron set out through the ankle deep snow for the game keeper's hut.

It felt like it took an eternity before he finally reached Hagrd's front door and by the time he did he was shivering so uncontrollably he thought he would fall apart. He brought his hand up and weakly knocked on the door. Almost instantly he heard Fangs excited barking on the other side. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself as best he could. He heard the heavy footsteps of Hagrid making his way to the door.

"Get out the way Fang," he heard Hagrid's gruff voice and the sound of him pushing the huge dog to the side. The latch of the door clicked and Ron knew that there was no turning back.

The door swung open to reveal the massive form of Hagrid, covered in fresh injuries from Merlin only knew what. He looked at Ron in surprise. Ron had a sudden frightening vision of him bellowing a great yell and beating him over the head until he was neck deep in the frozen ground.

"Ron?" Hagrid looked around, squinting his eyes as he tried to see through the falling snow. His questioning tone and the fact that he seemed to be looking for Harry and Hermione made Ron feel slightly easier…though not much.

"Wha' yeh doin' ou' here by yerself?" he asked focusing back on Ron. "An' dres' li'e _that_? Are yeh tryin' the catch yeh death ou' here o' what?"

Ron tried a smile through his chattering teeth but due to his present misery and the cold he found it impossible. "J-jus' w-wanted t-to s-s-say…hi," He managed to stutter.

"Well come'n side then," Hagrid said stepping aside to make room, holding Fang by the scruff so to keep him from jumping on Ron. "C'mon then, b'fore yeh freeze the death ou' here." As soon as Ron was inside he shut the door. Already Ron could feel the warmth seeping in through his wet clothes.

"Si' down an' I'll make yeh some tea," he said as he threw a blanket over Ron's shoulders. Ron did as he was told, sniffing the fabric as the large man turned his back to him. Reluctantly, mostly for the warmth, he pulled it tighter around himself and settled himself in the wooden chair, closing his eyes.

Here was something normal. As he heard Hagrid put the kettle on the stove he tried to picture Harry and Hermione sitting around the table with him, Fang's huge drooling head set in Harry lap rather than his. He tried to think of what they'd all be talking about. Christmas most likely, he thought, or something stupid Malfoy did during Hagrid's lesson earlier that day. At the thought of Draco Ron opened his eyes and felt a twisting in his stomach.

The chairs across from him were empty and Fang was still drooling on his legs.

Hagrid moved into his line of vision and placed a large steaming mug in front of him. "There yeh go," he said sitting down at the table beside Ron. "Tha'll warm yeh up." Ron just stroked the big dogs head and didn't respond. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like an eternity.

"Missed yeh te'day," Hagrid said finally. "Thought yeh migh' be sick again bu' here yeh are." Ron still didn't reply so Hagrid continued, "Harry seemed migh'y steamed 'bout sumthin' though." Again Ron said nothing. "'Ermione was pre'y quie' as well." Nothing. "Yeh bes' be drinkin' tha' b'fore it ge's cold," he said nodding toward Ron's mug.

Numbly Ron picked it up and took a sip, not even flinching as it burned his tongue and throat. Hagrid stared at him for a while, not saying anything. Finally he broke the silence with a great sigh:

"Is there sumthin' yeh wan'ed teh tell me?" Ron flinched, jostling Fang in the process, almost as if Hagrid had just raised one of his massive hands to strike him. Harry had told him after all. He felt a tear he didn't even know he had been holding slide down his cheek.

"Well yeh know there's nuthin' wrong with it," Hagrid said quickly. Another tear broke through the dam. "I's jus'," Hagrid sighed. "I's jus' I wish yeh coulda trusted us a bit more an' told us.

A small strangled sob managed to escape as Ron felt the hot tears tumble out his eyes and run down his face. He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to stop their flow.

"Yeh know, insteada us findin' ou' the way we did." Hagrid continued awkwardly.

"The way who did?" Ron finally asked, still unable to look at Hagrid.

"Well I'm assumin' tha' Harry an' Hermione found ou' the same as me," the big man said though he was starting to sound fairly unconfident.

"How'd you find out?" Ron asked in a small voice. Something told him he already knew the answer. After all if Harry hadn't told Hagrid…

"Well from the other students o' course," he answered. "I's all they bin talkin' 'bout" This prompted Ron into a miserable groan. He put his head down, burying his face in his elbow, mumbling something.

"Sorry didn' catch tha'."

"'Arry's the one who told ev'rybody," he cried, lifting his head and looking at Hagrid for the first time.

Hagrid didn't say anything. He stared at Ron unbelievably until Ron, unable to look him in the eye anymore, put his head back down and continued to cry. A few seconds later he felt one of Hagrid's hands rest on one of his shoulders. A wave of relief rushed through him as the realization hit him. Hagrid didn't hate him or think him disgusting. _Well yeh know there's nuthin' wrong with it_.

Hagrid sat there in silence. Finally after Ron managed to calm down into hiccupping breaths the half-giant asked, "Do yeh wan' teh talk abou' it?"

Ron told him everything. He started with the detention, describing Malfoy's strange behavior, and told him about the kiss. He continued with explaining the next day, about how Malfoy cornered him in the bathroom and what happened later that night after their second detention, leaving out the finer details but giving Hagrid enough so that he knew the basics of what had happened. He went on to tell him about the night in the unused classroom and the month that followed. He explained to him about how he wanted to tell someone, that he felt horrible for lying and keeping it secret, but felt so dirty and vile that he had been unable to. Finally he described what had happened earlier that day. When he finished, Hagrid was nearly in tears himself.

"Malfoy, he didn'," Hagrid paused trying to think of the right way to say it. "Well he didn' force yeh did 'e?"

Thinking about it Ron couldn't think of a time when Draco had really forced him into anything other than the first few kisses. But the first time he wasn't holding onto Ron and when Ron pushed him away he walked away. Even the second time when he had held onto Ron's hands he had let go somewhere in the middle of it all. Ron could have pushed him away at anytime, but he didn't. All the other times Ron gave in. Ron let him. While Ron didn't really feel comfortable doing any of it, he really couldn't say that he hadn't wanted to either. He couldn't say that he had been forced. Ron explained this to Hagrid who sighed in relief and nodded his understanding.

"What're yeh goin' teh do abou' Malfoy now?" Ron was quiet for a while, thinking about it.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I don't want to keep doing it but at the same time I really don't want to stop either." He ran his fingers over the rim of the now empty mug. He looked at Hagrid. "Does that sound mental to you?"

Hagrid nodded. "Ay, 'course it does." Smiling though he continued, "Bu' it makes a lota sense too." Ron managed to smile a little for him then. "Yeh want s'more tea?" Ron nodded and handed him his mug as Hagrid stood up to grab the kettle off the stove.

"What am I gonna do 'bout Harry and Hermione?" Ron asked. Hagrid paused for a second before he finished with the tea and turned around.

"I don' know," he said putting the steaming mug in front of Ron again. "Bu' I'm certin tha' if yeh tell 'em wha' yeh told me they'll unde'stand."

Ron nodded. "I hope so."

"Now yeh bes' be finishin' tha'," Hagrid said looking at his watch. "I's getting' late. Don' want yeh missing curfew and getting yerself inter trouble."

Ron took a sip from his mug to keep himself from moaning in displeasure. If it was going to be just Harry and Hermione he had to worry about then he didn't think he'd be so apprehensive but he was going to have the entire Gryffindor common room to deal with. He felt a sickening feeling creeping in his stomach as he remembered Harry's reaction and the stares from all the other students.

Hagrid might have been confident that Harry and Hermione would listen to him but he had to admit the he did not share such thoughts, though he sorely wished he could.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Sorry that this took so long. Would have had it finished a few day ago for you but this has been one hell of a week. Not to mention Hagrid's accent was a bitch to write.

Sorry that everyone's giving Ron such a hard time. I'm trying my hardest to go for realism and I'm sorry but I just don't think that too many people would be very excepting of homosexuality within Hogwarts.

The part with the kid that pushes Ron actually happened in my school one day. I don't know what happened but I saw this big guy push this smaller guy and called him a "fucking fag." I didn't know either of them and I don't know if the kid was really gay but it's always suck in my mind. This happened in my sophomore year so that was like 5 years ago, so you figure homosexuality wouldn't really be accepted any better within schools in 1995-96 right? I have no idea how it would have been in Britain or a boarding school setting though.

Ok I think I'll stop rambling now


	10. Year Five: Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Yup…it's still Slash, **_**Very**_** angsty Ron, mean Harry, and a ridiculous mention of Merlin's pants (damn you Taby! I hope you're happy)**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Mayby some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 10**

Ron slowly made his way up the stairs and stopped at the top next to the statue of Lachlan the Lanky. He looked down the hall where the portrait of the Fat Lady was and took a deep breath. He had to do this, the quicker the better. He just needed to get Harry and Hermione alone to talk and then it would be easy. Harry had half the day to calm down after all.

He ran those thoughts through his head over and over but they seemed unable to ease the butterflies in his stomach. He wiped away the water that dripped into his eyes from his wet hair and started to make his way forward, his robes leaving a trail of water droplets behind him. It had proven quite difficult to wade through the snow on his return trip, the snow having made its way up to his waist during the time he sat inside Hagrid's.

"I'd brace myself if I were you," the Fat Lady said as he approached her. He nodded and sputtered the password. She swung forward and he entered the porthole.

The common room was noisy as ever as he emerged. Everyone was joking and laughing about the days events and exchanging plans for the next few days before Christmas break. He hung back, looking for Harry and Hermione. He spotted them in the back near the dormitories and started to make his way through the crowd of Gryffindors.

As soon as he was noticed though conversations died down and in record time the common room was completely silent, all eyes focused on him. He tried to act like this was normal and continued to walk towards his friends.

"Oy Ron," Fred seemed to appear out of nowhere as he placed an arm around his shoulder. From his other side George came into view.

"Harry's been telling us that he caught you sucking face with that slimy git Malfoy." George said.

"We tried to tell 'im it's just in bad taste but he's damn persistent."

Ron didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. All of the common room was staring at him, as he struggled to get something out but he just felt his throat tighten up. His eyes found Harry's who looked back at him with the same revulsion from earlier. Ron could already feel his eyes begin to burn as he tried to blink the sensation away.

"Merlin's pants," he heard Fred say. "It _is_ true then."

He broke away from his brothers as hushed voices picked up again. He walked over to Harry, everyone moving out of the way for him, not wanting to be touched by something so dirty.

"Could I talk to the two of you alone?" His voice sounded strained as he tried to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat.

"I don't think we really have anything to talk about."

"Harry," Hermione's voice was low as she didn't want to draw anymore attention to them. Harry looked like he was going to say something more but the look on her face kept him quiet. He threw down his quill and stood up.

"Ladies first," he said looking at Ron.

Ron bit his tongue toward the comment. Wordlessly he fell in behind Hermione as they walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.

"Well here you are," Harry said closing the door behind him. "We're alone."

Ron hesitated. He didn't know how he should start. Hagrid had made it so easy.

"I can explain," he started.

"And I already told you…"

"I know what you said," Ron cut him off. Why was he going to make this so difficult? "If you would just listen to me for a second…"

"You were snogging Malfoy Ron," Harry shouted. "MALFOY."

Ron clenched his fists, fighting to keep them at his sides. Punching Harry wasn't going to help out his situation any.

"It's not like I wanted to."

"You certainly weren't putting up to much of a fight."

"Harry that's enough," Hermione said, sounding tired. "Let Ron talk for heavens sake."

"Why? There's nothing he can say to weasel his way out of this one." Ron flinched but stayed where he was. "They defiantly weren't _fighting_ this time."

"_Harry_!"

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Hermione and Harry exchanging glares, as Ron tried to collect himself. He cleared his throat and tried to begin:

"A month ago…"

"A month?" Harry snapped. Hermione turned her face away. "This has been going on for a month?"

"Why don't you let me finish before you start jumping down my throat," Ron yelled at him. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy telling them but he never thought that Harry would make it this hard.

"You're right," Harry said, sparking a flame of hope in Ron's chest for a second. "Draco's done a good enough job of it I'm sure."

"HARRY!" Ron was starting to wish she would say something other than his stupid name.

"Well what do you want me to say then?" He felt his throat tightening even more now and the burning in his eyes getting worse.

"I don't really _want_ you to ay anything," Harry replied. Ron was having trouble breathing now. He looked at Hermione but she just looked away, finding Dean's football poster suddenly interesting.

"'Mione," Ron didn't mean for it to sound like he was begging, even though that was what it basically was.

"I'm sorry Ron," she said. "But I just don't know what to say."

"You don't HAVE to say anything," he said. "I just want you to listen." He could feel the hot tears start to collect at the edge of his vision. "Please."

"But," she blinked and a tear slid down her cheek, causing Ron's stomach to lurch. "But you were kissing Malfoy." More tears slid out of her eyes to join with the first one already on her chin.

"If you would just listen to me," Ron couldn't help it as he felt the first, of what he knew would be many, tears slip free and slid down his cheek. "I can explain." Why did it sound like he was only repeating himself? Hermione shook her head.

"No Ron," she said, shaking loose some more tears. "It isn't just because you were kissing another boy. That we," she paused and quickly glanced at Harry. "_I_ could possibly deal with. But you were kissing _Malfoy_."

"Looked more like he was trying to eat his face to me."

"Harry," she sobbed and dug her face into her hands.

"But I can explain," Ron repeated weakly. "It's not what you think…" But Hermione was already shaking her head.

"Sorry Ron." With that she turned, making sure to grab Harry's shoulders and force him around too, and they walked out the door closing it behind them.

Ron stood there alone, staring after them. Tears began to flow freely down his cheeks as he took large heaving breaths, trying to hold back the sobs that he felt fighting their way out. He turned and took the few steps to the side of his bed. He pulled back the curtains and all of a sudden felt his knees give out on him. He was on the floor, clutching the bed trying to lift himself back up, the tears blinding him. Pain seared in his chest and slowly spread through his body, his whole body quickly feeling like it was on fire. He briefly though that this is what the Cruciatus Curse must feel like.

He cried then, long agonizing sobs that filled the room and echoed off the walls. Then he started screaming. He sat on the floor with his back against his bed, curling himself as tight as he could, pulling at his hair and screamed. He screamed even after his throat became raw and it hurt. He didn't even care if anybody heard him. He kept screaming, and crying, letting out all of his pain and aggravation.

Letting out all of his shame.

He didn't know how long it was before he stopped. His robes were still wet and the others hadn't come up for bed yet so it couldn't have been that long. He dragged himself up into his bed and pulled the curtains shut. He didn't care that he was still fully dressed or that his clothes were still soaked through from the snow. He wrapped himself in his blanket and pretended to go to sleep, knowing that the real thing would probably neglect him for the rest of the night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: so there you are…Chapter 10. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I rushed it so it might not be too good. For those of you who have been asking about when they get to be happy my answer to you is that they probably don't. They'll have brief happy moments but overall this is probably going to stay pretty angsty.

Now I guess I should announce this now since the way this month has been going lately I'm not sure if I'm going to get another chapter up before the 31st

During the month of November I am going to be participating in NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. Before you start crying know that I plan on bending the rules a bit (what they don't know wont hurt them after all) and I'm going to be continuing to write this story. So if all goes well (and my bad luck doesn't follow me into next month) by December I should have at least 50,000 words for _Sakura_ written. The bad news to this is that with the deadline there will be no time for editing as I go so updating is going to come to a halt for the month but will pick up with tremendous speed come the holidays.

But don't worry I'm going to try to get another chapter up before the 31st


	11. Year Five: Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst and Flangst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 11**

Morning came too soon. Ron laid in bed willing the sun to sleep forever, something he'd given up for himself hours ago. He just couldn't fathom how he was going to make it through the day.

He wished that he could just stay in bed all day but knew that doing so wouldn't solve anything. The best he thought he could do would be to wait three more days when Christmas break started and try to patch things up with Harry as best he could while they were at the Burrow, away from Hogwarts and away from Malfoy.

Christmas was another thing he began to worry about. Ginny and his brothers obviously knew so there was nothing to stop his parents finding out. He was terrified to find out how they would react. They'd be furious with him of course; the Weasleys and the Malfoys hated each other. He just hoped that they would at least be a little understanding and listen to what he had to say. His parents couldn't hate him after all. Could they?

He sat up and drew open the curtains on his bed. It was already dawn; pale light filtered through the window and filled the room. His room mates were all still asleep. He quietly climbed out of bed and dressed himself, looking at his watch to learn that it was only six-forty. He grabbed his school bag and checked to make sure he had all his books for the day's lessons.

It was still a little early to be going down to the Great Hall for breakfast so instead Ron sat in the common room. He tried to make some stuff up for his dream journal but soon gave up. It just wasn't the same without Harry.

He heard movement from the dormitory stairs. He didn't feel up to dealing with anyone yet so he packed his stuff and left before anybody saw him. The Fat Lady yawned and shifted as her portrait closed behind him but continued to sleep as he made his way down the hall.

He took the long way down, having no desire to go near the secret stairs. Though he new the fear was irrational he was still afraid he'd see Malfoy. Ron still didn't know what he was going to do about him. He kept telling himself that he was going to stop what the two of them were doing but he was afraid that when he saw him he wouldn't be able to. His mind kept telling him that everything that had happened was entirely Draco's fault but something inside of him felt bad for the other boy. He was in Slytherin after all; he was probably getting the worst of it.

Ron reached the Great Hall and entered to see all four tables empty, all the platters bare. He sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table nearest the doors, his back facing the Slytherin table. He didn't pull out any of his school work this time. He knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it. Instead he picked a spot on the wooden table and fixed his gaze on it, resting his chin on his arms. He was sitting there for a while before he heard the first group of students enter the hall. He didn't look at them but he did hear them hesitate when they entered before hurrying over to one of the other house tables.

He wished he could say something to them but knew that if he opened his mouth he'd only succeed in sounding like an idiot. So instead he sat in silence as more and more students entered the Great Hall, all of them throwing glances at him over their shoulders.

Finally the food appeared on the platters and all the students began digging in. Ron filled his plate; not really paying attention to what he grabbed, and glanced down the Gryffindor table. He saw Ginny who seemed to be making it a point not to look at him, Neville, who had a sour look on his face as if he was fuming over a recent argument, and he wasn't sure but he thought he might have seen Hermione's bushy brown hair all the way at the other end of the table. There was no sign of Harry. Bringing his attention back to the plate in front of him he began picking at his scrambled eggs.

He had picked the end of the table for the quick escape it provided. Real common sense must have eluded him when he made that decision though as he now realized everybody who walked through the doors could see him the moment they entered. What made that problem bigger was:

"Draco?"

Hearing the name Ron couldn't stop himself. He felt his neck move on its own and soon his head turned towards the door where his eyes met with the cold gray of Malfoy's. The other boy was glaring at him, a scolding glare almost like the ones his mother would give him when he did something particularly stupid. Ron felt his cheeks flush and his heart start racing as Draco hovered in the doorway, looking like he was about to walk over to Ron and slap him upside the head.

"DRACO."

Eye contact was broken as Draco turned and regarded the dark skinned boy calling him. Blaise Zabini walked back towards Draco and placed an hand on his shoulder, directing him away from the door and away from Ron, but not before he shot a warning look in his direction.

Ron let out the breath that he had been holding and turned back to his breakfast, forcing some more of it down, and tried not to think about what had just happened. He felt something in the pit of his stomach, something he'd felt before his previous year when he saw Hermione dancing with Victor Krum at the Yule Ball. Was he jealous? Jealous of what though?

He turned to look at the Slytherin table but Draco had his back to him, Blaise was leaning toward him, saying something in Draco's ear. The feeling flared up again and Ron felt his ears turn so hot he had to force himself to turn away. He suddenly felt an urge to walk over and punch Zabini in the nose. It would certainly help to alleviate some of the frustration he'd been feeling for the past month. He felt startled by this sudden emotion but before he could try to analyze it his thoughts were disrupted by a rush of feathers as the usual morning post flew in. Since he wasn't expecting any letters he paid no attention to the birds flying over head so he was surprised to hear the familiar chirping of Pig as he enthusiastically fluttered his way toward Ron.

The manic bird flew circles around Ron's head, too excited to remember that he had to land and stay still to deliver his letter. Ron managed to catch him and untie the letter from his leg. He placed Pig on the edge of his plate so that the owl could pick at the mound of food still sitting on it as he looked over the envelope. He immediately recognized his mother's handwriting and felt a horde of butterflies evict all strange emotions as he opened it.

_Dear Ronald_, it stared and he had to stop to take a breath. It was usually never good when his mom used his name like that.

_Dear Ronald,_

_Your father and I have heard some rather unpleasant and disturbing news concerning you and Lucius Malfoy's son. While I'm less than pleased and very disappointed in your poor choice your father on the other hand is so furious I fear he might do something rash. I think you should stay at school for Christmas until he calms down and we know how to deal with this. Professor Dumbledore and your head of house have already been notified. _

_Love,_

_Mom_

He read it again, not sure that he had read it correctly the first time, and then again and again until his stomach began to feel sick and his vision blurred. He didn't expect his parents to be happy about it but he never thought that they wouldn't let him come home for Christmas.

Pig had another bout of excitement and let out a rather loud hoot that sounded closer to a squeak as he flew away and caused a lot of heads to turn his way. He felt his chest and throat tightening again and soon found himself struggling to breathe. The burning in his eyes was starting to become unbearable so he tried blinking it away. The burning didn't stop thought but got worse as he loosened up the tears sitting at the edge of his vision and he heard the whispers start.

He put the letter down on the table and shakily stood up. He didn't bother looking at anybody. He didn't want to see any of their faces mocking him. He walked as calmly as he could out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. He didn't care that he left the letter there for everyone to read or that he left his school bag with his wand and all of his books in it. He didn't care about all the strange looks he was getting from other students as he made his way through the first floor.

He didn't know where he was going either. He had promised himself that he was going to get through the day, that he would make it through the next three days. Now all he wanted to do was disappear. He had told himself that once he reached the Burrow for the holidays that somehow everything would get better. Now he wasn't going to have the Burrow. Nothing was going to get better.

As he continued to trudge through the corridors he heard running footsteps behind him. He ignored them. He didn't care who it was or where they were going.

"Ron!"

He was surprised to hear that voice calling his name. He hesitated for a second but immediately broke into a run. This wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want _him_ to comfort him. It would only make the situation worse and make it harder for Ron to say no.

He heard Draco curse and start running after him. Ron pushed himself to run faster. Everything that Ron was feeling at that moment was because of the boy chasing after him. All of the pain; all of the confusion, humiliation and anger; all of the emotions Ron didn't understand—all of them were _his_ fault.

Upon reaching the stairs Ron stumbled. Not enough to fall but enough to give his pursuer time to catch up. As he righted himself Ron felt Draco grab his wrist from behind him.

"For Gods sake Weasley would you just wait?"

The two boys stood there panting on the stairs. Ron didn't turn around. He stared at the steps in front of him, trying to catch his breath. His mind had gone blank. He didn't know what to say to Draco, didn't even know what he wanted to say. He felt torn between turning to punch him in the face and throwing himself into Draco's now familiar arms. Instead of doing either though he just stood there, hot tears streaming down his face.

Still holding his arm Draco walked up the stairs until he was just about at Ron's eye level. Ron turned his head, trying to hide his face. He didn't want Draco to see him crying.

Draco let go of his hand though and brought both of his up to Ron's face. Draco dried his face with the sleeves of his robes and, grabbing his chin, forced Ron to look at him. Their eyes met and Ron noticed that Draco's looked sad. There were no tears but they were genuinely sad.

Draco rubbed his thumb over Ron's bottom lip. Ron closed his eyes expecting the other to kiss him. He didn't though, much to Ron's surprise. Instead he pulled Ron close to him and wrapped his arms around him in a gentle, comforting embrace.

"It's okay," Draco said and suddenly it was like a dam was broken somewhere inside of Ron.

He clutched at Draco's robes and buried his face into his shoulder and cried. He was aware that students were still passing by them but found that he didn't care what they thought about at that moment in time. He knew that later when he thought back to it he would hate himself but again, he didn't care. He didn't even care that it was Draco, the one that had caused all of his turmoil for the last month. It was like those two words were a release. Something he had been longing to hear someone say.

It wasn't much but those two words at least told him that it was okay for two boys to feel this way—even if they were the only ones who thought so.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I just realized that this would be a perfect ending. Of course that would make the plot I've nearly lost my sanity planning out a complete waste of my time and would really screw me for this up coming month.

Sorry for leaving you guys in sort of a cliff hanger. I really wanted to write another chapter after this one before November but most of my time was put towards getting ready for NaNo.

For those of you who plan on still reading this when I return I shall see you sometime in December. Until then wish our boys luck


	12. Year Five: Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Sexy Slash, Angst **

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 12**

_Dear Ronald,_

Ron sat on the steps that lead up to the owlery. He tried wrapping his robes around himself tighter, shivering as another gust of wind blew over him, nearly tearing away the piece of paper he was clutching tightly in one of his hands. After it had died down a little he looked back at the paper.

_Your father and I have heard some rather unpleasant and disturbing news concerning you and Lucius Malfoy's son._

He still didn't know how they had found out only that they did—and that they hated him for it.

_While I'm less than pleased and very disappointed in your poor choice your father on the other hand is so furious I fear he might do something rash._

Of course he couldn't really blame them. It just wasn't right by the day's standards for two boys to have any sort of romantic—or lustful—relationship.

_I think you should stay at school for Christmas until he calms down and we know how to deal with this._

But if they would just let him go home and explain to them how it had started then it wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't his fault after all.

"What are you still reading that thing for?"

A shadow covered him and he looked up to see Draco Malfoy standing next to him. He didn't respond though. He just looked back at the letter that had effectively ruined his life.

"Give me that," he said as he grabbed the letter out f Ron's grip. Ron jumped up and tried to grab it back but Draco evaded him easily. Ron was way to cold to be able to move very well, Draco being a seasoned Quidditch player was used to it.

"Give it back," Ron tried lamely. He moved to try to grab for it again but Draco evaded again and pulled his wand out from his sleeve. Ron stopped cold, fear edging into his mind. Instead of pointing his wand at Ron though Draco instead pointed it at the piece of paper he held in his hand.

"You don't really need this anymore do you?" with out waiting for Ron's reply though he muttered "Incendio" and his mother's letter burst into flames.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Ron asked, staring at the burning scrap of paper in Draco's hand. Draco tossed it into the air and watch as the wind blew it away. He rounded on Ron.

"There's no need to keep reading it over and over again," he said. "You already know what sort of rubbish it says."

"It's not rubbish," Ron mumbled. He didn't know why it was such a big deal to him. Draco laughed and leaned towards Ron so their noses nearly touched.

"You mean to tell me that your parents calling you a freak isn't rubbish?"

Ron stood rigid, his temper flaring—burning so hot that the cold no longer bothered him. It didn't matter what his parents thought or said about him they were still his parents and he refused to let Draco talk down about them. He wanted to hurt Malfoy at that moment. Just pull back and break his jaw.

"They never said anything like that," Ron said through gritted teethe.

"But it was certainly implied," Draco said in the most matter-of-fact voice Ron had ever heard. As always Ron couldn't think of anything to counter the statement. He was right—it most certainty was implied.

All of Ron's anger seemed to melt and was replaced by a sickening hollow feeling followed by the cold. He turned away from Draco and pulled his robes tighter again. Draco was next to him suddenly and placed his arm around Ron's shoulder and pulled him into a sort of half hug.

"I'm sorry," he said and Ron could tell that he meant it.

……………………….

"When was the last time you actually got any sleep?"

Ron pulled himself out of his daze and turned to look at Draco. They had ventured back inside and were now sitting in the corridor that lead to the west tower where the owlery was.

"What?" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to stifle a yawn. Draco only shook his head and chuckled.

"Lie down," he said.

"And where am I supposed to do that?"

"You twit," he smiled. "Right here."

"Here?" Ron had to admit that he was genuinely confused.

"I'll even allow you the pleasure of using me as a pillow."

"Think I'll pass."

Draco started to look annoyed. Not wanting to see him looking at him like that Ron turned and looked away.

"Do you really think your parents are going to let you stay at school for Christmas?" he tried to change the subject. It was why they had come to the owlery in the first place.

"I don't think they know about us yet if that's what you're really asking," Draco snapped.

"That's not what I was asking," Ron bit back. They sat there in silence for a while. Then hesitantly he asked, "What'll they do when they do find out." It was a valid concern. His father was a death eater after all.

"I could care less what my father thinks about it," Draco said and the venom in his voice surprised Ron. Draco had always worshiped his father. Ron wondered if something had happened to cause such a change in Draco's tone.

"Besides," Draco continued, "it's not like they can force me to get on that train in a few days anyway."

"No I guess not," Ron said. "But your dad does seem the type to come and drag you out by the ear." Ron couldn't help but smile at the image forming in his head. Draco failed to see the humor though.

"Just let him try." Ron looked back at Draco. He was staring daggers at the wall in front of him. It was the darkest look Ron had ever seen reflected those eyes.

"Malfoy?" The blond visibly seemed to snap back to reality, his body jerked and his head turned as he looked at Ron. He seemed lost for a second like he didn't know where he was. Ron had to admit that it scared him.

He was back to normal in a second though. He gave Ron a small smile and placed one of his arms around his shoulder and pulled him down. This of course caused Ron to freak out.

"I already told you to lie down didn't I?" Draco said as Ron forced himself back up.

"And I already told you that I didn't need to." Ron didn't want anybody to walk by and see him sleeping on Draco's lap.

"Just lie down Weasley." Draco's stern expression and tone of voice left no argument and Ron had to admit that he was pretty tired. Giving in he lay down on the hard stone floor and placed his head on Draco's lap.

Almost immediately he could feel all the tension drain out of him and his eyes began to close. He felt Draco start to run his fingers through his hair, caressing his neck and behind his ears.

"Ron what's your favorite flower?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," Ron said sleepily. "Why?"

"Just curious," he answered as he continued to rub the back of Ron's neck.

It was relaxing Ron thought and soon the world disappeared and the blissful darkness of sleep overtook him.

…………………………

Ron didn't know how long he was asleep but when he opened his eyes it was dark, he was still on the floor and his head was still lying in Draco's lap. He could hear the soft even breathing of Draco as he slept, leaning back against the wall. One of Draco's hands rested on Ron's waist, sending sparks through Ron's body as the small bit of contact came to his attention.

He started feeling weird, his body started to feel hotter. He didn't understand how such a small thing could affect him so much. He closed his eyes again and tried to will the feeling away. It didn't help though. He felt the one part of his body he didn't want to react wake up and soon he found himself feeling physically uncomfortable. His body started begging him for something he didn't want to give it.

But why shouldn't he?

The thought flashed through his mind and it almost made him sick. He had to take large gulps of air to try to calm himself and once he got his stomach and senses under control he tried to think more clearly. The only thing his stupid brain could come up with though still was why not. If the whole world was going to condemn him for it then why not actually do it. He already knew Draco was all for it.

He couldn't lie there anymore. He had to stand up. He had to walk this off. He wasn't thinking clearly. He rolled onto his back, slowly, trying not to wake up Draco. He had to get away from him.

As he shifted to his back though Draco's hand found its way to Ron's stomach. He froze, his mind filling with panic? Or desire? Ron wasn't sure which. Before he could think to move though the hand on his stomach twitched slightly. Draco opened his eyes and rolled his shoulders. He looked down at Ron and even in the darkness Ron could see his smile.

"Good morning," he said through a yawn. He leaned down and placed a slight kiss on Ron's lips.

Butterflies fluttered through his stomach and fire burned through the rest of his body as he grabbed the back of Draco's head and pulled him back in for another kiss. This kiss was hard, passionate—completely fueled by Ron's desire. Ron grabbed Draco's hand as the blond tried to move it, pushing it down toward the area of need and brought himself into a sitting position as he attacked Draco's neck.

Draco was caught off guard but played into it, stretching his neck to give Ron better access and rubbing his hand over Ron's erection. Ron moaned against Draco's neck and spread his legs farther apart. He could hear his brain screaming at him but his body had obviously decided to overrule it.

He moved from Draco's neck back up to his lips and maneuvered the two of them so that Draco was lying on the floor and he straddled his waist. He broke the kiss for some much needed air and stared down at Draco. The blond looked back up at him trying to catch his breath. Ron thought that his heaving chest looked so inviting he went back to kissing Draco's neck and moved up to his ear as he worked with the buttons on the Slytherin's robes.

He didn't get far though. As he was working on the third button he felt Draco's hands come up to grab his.

"R-Ron," he breathed. "Wait." Ron stopped but didn't move his lips from their spot behind Draco's ear.

"I can't believe Draco Malfoy is telling_ me _to wait." Even he in his lust filled haze couldn't miss the irony.

"You mean to tell me that you really want to do this in the middle of the corridor?" He had a point there. It was only luck that they weren't caught sleeping there. He could just imagine if they were caught having sex in the hallway.

"But you were the one willing to do it in an empty classroom," Ron reminded him. Besides if it wasn't there and it wasn't then Ron didn't know when or where else he'd have the guts, or desire, to do it. He wanted it now. He resumed attacking Draco's earlobe as he undid the next couple of buttons.

"Ron." There was that voice again saying his name, begging again—though it sounded different this time. Ron couldn't place it for sure but it sounded almost like Draco was afraid.

He lifted his head so that he could look at Draco. The blond was gasping for air and his entire face was covered in sweat. His eyes did indeed have a nervous look in them. He didn't look at Ron directly but it was more like he was seeing through him.

"What's wrong?" Ron actually had to admit that he was worried. It was like Draco wasn't there again. His body was but he was someplace else. At hearing Ron's voice he blinked and brought his hands up to cover his face.

"I don't know," he muttered into his hands. He stayed like that for a few minutes until he let out a sigh and started to sit up. Ron moved to let him, adjusting himself next to him instead, his eyes never leaving the other.

"What time is it?" Ron looked at his watch.

"Shit it's already eight-thirty," he said. He wondered how they managed to sleep in the middle of a hallway all day without getting caught.

Draco didn't say anything though. Ron looked back at him and couldn't help but think that Draco looked exhausted, regardless of the fact that they had just slept pretty much the whole day. Draco moved to button up his robes but stopped.

"I know of a better place to finish this," he said. Ron noticed that his voice was still unsteady. Ron felt himself sobering up as the thought that maybe Draco didn't want to do this after all ran through his mind.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked. Even after all the misery Draco's hormones had caused him the past month he really had no desire to force those feeling onto anyone else. Plus now he felt the craving that had just possessed him fading and was no longer sure he even wanted to do it anymore.

"Are you?"

"I don't really know anymore," Ron admitted. Draco leaned closer to him.

"We could still try it," he said. Ron just stared at him. "If you don't like it I promise I'll stop." Ron still wasn't sure though he felt the funny tingling feeling rush through his body at the thought of it. He nodded, not sure if his voice was going to work for him at that second. Draco smiled and kissed him. Ron did his best to kiss back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Yes I know that I said that I was going to wait for December but I'm way too impatient. I'm really stuck at the part I'm trying to write tonight so I figured I'd edit a little bit and hope that something will come to me. Since there wasn't anything in this part that I wanted to rewrite I knew that a simple read through to check my grammar and spelling would do and not take to long.

So here you are. Enjoy


	13. Year Five: Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Sexier Slash and Angstier Angst **

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 13**

Draco opened the door and stepped off to the side to make room for Ron to pass him. Ron stood there staring at the large bed sitting on the other side of the room. There were two small tables sitting on either side of the bed with a lamp sitting on one of them and a large plushy chair in front of a fireplace. Ron had to admit that it was nice. His eyes lingered on the bed a few seconds more but he pried his gaze away from it as Draco close the door behind them.

"So how did you find out about this room?" Ron asked. To his surprise Draco had brought him to the Room of Requirement. He hoped that he and the rest of the DA hadn't accidentally led him to it or even worse—someone in the group snitched on them.

"By accident," he answered. "During our first year."

"First year?" How did he find out about this place that long ago before they did? Before Ron could ask anything else Draco was kissing him, wasting no time in working the buttons of his robes undone.

He slipped the black fabric over Ron's shoulders, letting it land in a heap on the floor, and started moving Ron toward the bed. Ron kissed him back, not with the same confidence as before but enough to hide the nervousness that was fixing itself in the pit of his stomach. He wished Draco hadn't stopped him before. Now as his mind started racing he was beginning to have second thoughts as he felt his legs bump against the edge to the bed.

He felt Draco's finger tips rub against the skin under his waistline, the small touch sending little electric shocks through the rest of his body. Ron tried to get his fingers to work long enough to get Draco's robes off as he broke the kiss to move his lips down the blond boy's neck. Draco moaned softly in satisfaction and ran has hands over the back of Ron's neck and through his hair. It felt like it took forever but finally the robes were gone. Ron made quick work of the tie and started unbuttoning Draco's shirt while nipping at the base of Draco's neck and collarbone.

Draco took over again though as he pushed Ron down to sit on the bed. Draco got to his knees on the floor and positioned himself in between Ron's legs running his hands up and down his thighs. He stared into Ron's eyes looking for any sign that Ron wished to stop. Answering his questioning gaze Ron leaned forward and kissed him. Draco kissed back harder, tugging on Ron's bottom lip ever so slightly. He threw Ron's tie to the side and undid the buttons on his shirt. He ran his hands up and down Ron's chest, lightly pinching at his nipples as his fingertips passed over the small nubs.

Ron broke the kiss with his quick intake of breath. Draco moved down to take one of his nipples between his teeth. He rubbed his hands up and down Ron thighs again and behind his knees as Ron spread his legs wider. Draco trailed wet kisses down his chest and stomach, running his tongue over the skin around Ron's bellybutton.

"Merlin's…" Ron moaned and clenched at the bed linen as he felt Draco's lips press against his growing erection through the fabric of his pants. He placed hot kisses on the inside of his thighs and even grazed him with his teeth, while rubbing the back of Ron's ankle and calves. Placing kisses on both of his knees Draco removed Ron's shoes and socks. He quickly moved back up and kissed Ron again.

"Do you want it?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Ron moaned. His body felt like it was on fire. Draco pulled away slightly and looked at him, the look on his face utterly serious.

"Are you sure?"

Ron could hear his brain scream NO then but he felt himself nod anyway.

"I need to hear you say it," Draco said. He ran his hands down Ron's sides, sending those little shocks through his body again, making him feel like he was going to explode.

"Yes," Ron nearly cried.

Draco's mouth was on his again as his fingers worked on Ron's button and zipper. Draco pushed Ron back, directing him to move up on the bed to lie down. Draco moved his lips over Ron's jawbone toward his ear. Ron felt the cool air as Draco pulled down his pants at the same time Draco brushed his teeth over his adam's apple. Ron let out a groan as a wave of pleasure vibrated from the tips of his hair to his toes. He heard the rustle of cloth as Draco discarded the article of clothing over the edge of the bed.

Ron's breath hitched as he felt Draco grab him and start stoking up and down while taking his lips back into another kiss. Ron tried to kiss back through his moans but found it increasingly difficult. He bucked his hips against Draco's hand causing sparks to appear at the edge of his vision.

Draco broke the kiss and pulled his hands away. He sat Ron up just enough so that he could finish taking off the shirt he was still wearing and threw that too onto the floor. He sat back and looked at Ron, running his eyes over every inch of his body. Ron sat there and looked back at him, feeling his face starting to flush and staring to feel a bit nervous again. The thought that maybe he was doing something wrong crossed his mind.

"I-is something wrong?" he asked when it seemed like Draco would never stop staring at him. Draco shook his head.

"No," he said and moved in to kiss Ron again. "You're perfect."

Ron felt himself really blush then. Even through the heat coursing through his body he could feel the temperature of his face skyrocket. He met Draco's lips enthusiastically, running a hand over the back of his neck and pushing the other into the small of his back as he pulled Draco down with him so that the blond was lying on top of him.

Draco broke away though and moved down, placing kisses randomly down Ron's chest and stomach and kissed and nipped the inside of Ron's thighs. Through half lidded eyes Ron watched him. Draco looked back up at him as he placed a light kiss on the tip of Ron's erection. Ron sucked in his breath as he felt and watched Draco move his lips over him.

Ron threw his head back and had to shove his knuckles in his mouth to keep from screaming. Again he felt waves run through him and settle in his stomach until he felt like he would burst. His lungs started to hurt as he gulped down large amounts of air. The sparks spread till all he could see was white stars.

He felt the heat of Draco's mouth take him again, felt himself touch the back of the blonde's mouth and heard Draco hum. A wave of pleasure bigger than any he had felt before washed through him and he felt something equal to an explosion in his navel region as well as the back of this mind. Every coherent thought in his head disappeared and he was momentarily blinded by a white light.

As quickly as it came the feeling was gone and the rest of the world came back into focus—and with it came the memories. Memories of a letter written by his mother's hand, judgmental looks from his fellow students as whispered rumors flew through the hallways. Of Fred and George's shocked faces as they learned the disgusting truth about their youngest brother. Memories of green eyes looking at him filled with hate.

Draco was above him, wiping away tears Ron hadn't even noticed were there. Ron felt sick as the knowledge of what they just did started to sink in. He rolled onto his side and hung his head over the edge of the bed. He tried swallowing to keep it down but it was no use as he began retching all over the floor. In the back of his mind he vaguely hoped that his and Draco's clothes were somewhere on the other side of the bed.

After he was finished he laid his head down on the bed and tried to calm himself. He felt Draco's hands run up and down his back in soothing motions. He was saying something but Ron couldn't piece any of it together. The familiar feeling of panic flooded his mind as he briefly wondered what people would do if they found out about what just happened. He remembered that it was probably after curfew by now. That meant people were probably looking for them. What if they found the two of them in there somehow? Harry and the rest of the DA knew about the Room of Requirement after all. What could stop any of them from walking in?

"Ron?" Draco's panicked voice finally reached him. He took a deep breath to steady himself and got up, Draco moved out if his way and stood up as well. He looked around for his clothes, thankfully finding them all clean. Without even a glance in Draco's direction he started to pull his pants back on.

"What are you doing?" Draco's voice still sounded shaky.

"What does it look like," he answered. He didn't mean for it to sound so mean. He looked at Draco and saw that his eyes looked wet again. He paused for a second but then looked away. "It's getting late," he said.

"So that's it then?" the anger in his voice actually sounded more forced than anything. "You're just going to leave? What about me?"

"Well what about you?" Ron yelled. "Malfoy what just happened was…"

"You said that it was okay," Draco yelled back miserably. Ron turned away. He didn't think that he could stomach the sight of Draco crying.

"I was wrong," he said. Without turning around he quickly picked up the rest of his things and started for the door.

"Wait," he heard Draco's broken voice call out after him but he kept walking. He reached the door; his hand was on the handle when he felt Draco's arms wrap around him from behind. His nails dug into Ron's chest as he clung desperately to him. Draco pressed his cheek onto Ron's back and he could feel the wetness that clung to it.

"I said wait."

Ron's hand hovered over the door handle. A wave of guilt rushed over him as he realized that he wasn't alone in all of this suffering. Draco was there with him feeling the same way, maybe feeling worse for all he knew. All of the whispers in the corridors, all of the revolted looks—Draco had to suffer those things too.

As he stood there and thought about it he realized too that his parents were upset but given enough time they were going to forgive him. That's just how they were. Ron wondered then if Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy would ever forgive Draco. Not only for defying the laws of nature but also for defying them with a Weasley. Ron cursed himself for his insensitivity as he unwrapped himself from Draco's arms and turned around.

Draco didn't look away from him. He stared right into Ron's eyes, standing firm even though tears were still sliding down his cheeks. Ron couldn't help but admire that for some twisted reason.

"I guess I could stay the night then," Ron said. Something in Draco's eyes shifted, Ron couldn't tell what, but he smiled anyway. Ron took hold of Draco's hand as he led the way back to the bed, depositing his clothes on the chair as they passed.

He pulled the covers over the two of them as Draco settled himself against Ron, fitting his head in the crook of Ron's neck. Ron wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and rested his chin on top of Draco's head. It wasn't long before he heard Draco's even breathing as he fell asleep. Ron lay there and listened to him for a while until his eyelids became too heavy and a dreamless sleep took over him as well.

……………………………………

He was woken up only a few hours later by someone's persistence in shaking him. He opened his eyes to see the big round eyes of a house elf staring back at him. Shooting up into a sitting position he yelled in surprise causing both Draco and Dobby to start. Dobby was so startled he jumped back and missed the edge of the bed and landed very ungracefully on the floor, all of his hats falling off the top of his head.

"What the hell was that for?" Draco yelled. He must not have seen the elf. Ron ignored the question though as he threw the covers off and helped the elf pick up his hats.

"Dobby what are you doing in here?" he asked. Dobby, being as skittish as always shot a worried look in Draco's direction. Ron couldn't blame him for being scared of course since not only was Draco the son of Dobby's old master but the look on Draco's face was a look that could probably kill.

"D-Dobby is very sorry sirs," the house elf started as he looked at the floor, "but Dobby was asked to come and find you." The blood in Ron's veins turned to ice as thousands of terrible thoughts rushed through his mind. Looking at Draco he could tell that the Slytherin was thinking something along the same thought pattern.

"Who asked you to come and find us Dobby?" Ron asked slowly. Dobby shook his head though.

"No not," he paused and glanced at Draco but brought his focus back to Ron. "Not the old master's son," he finished. "Master Dumbledore asked Dobby to find Wheezy."

"What does that old geezer want at this time of the night?" Draco was aggravated. Ron could hear it in his voice. Dobby let out a little squeak.

"Master Dumbledore i-is _not_ an old geezer," he let out a breath and looking utterly terrified started to hit himself in the side of the head.

"Dobby stop that," Ron said grabbing Dobby's hand.

"Why?" Draco asked. "It's quite amusing."

"Shut up Malfoy," Ron snapped. He didn't have to look at Draco to know that the comment was insulting. Cutting off any remark he was about to say though Ron asked Dobby, "What did Professor Dumbledore send you to find me for? Has something happened?"

The small elf turned pale as he looked at Ron. "Has something happened?" he repeated. "Why yes. Something has happened. Something terrible has happened."

"Well then out with it you stupid elf," Draco snapped. He was on the floor next to Ron now.

Dobby jumped but continued to talk to Ron. "You must come now," he said grabbing hold of Ron's hand. "Quickly before it's too late."

"Why Dobby? What's happened?" There was nothing Ron could do to hide the fear in his voice. He walked over to the chair and quickly threw his shirt on. He only buttoned a couple buttons though before he started pulling on his socks and shoes. Dobby just stood there shaking uncontrollably. Draco looked like he was about to throttle him.

"Dobby," Ron yelled. He didn't mean too but the elf wasn't making any sense. Dobby jumped again, looking like he just woke from a bad dream. He looked at Ron. "What's happened?" Ron asked again.

"It's Wheezy's father," Dobby said. Ron felt his breath catch in his throat.

"What?" he asked, more panicked now than he'd ever felt before in his life. "What about my dad?"

"He's been very badly injured," Dobby said.

"How?" Ron felt himself nearing hysterics.

"H-He was attacked," Dobby wailed. "by-by…" the elf began another fit. Ron almost thought he had gone into a seizure.

"BY?" Draco was getting angrier by the second at the house elf.

Dobby jerked and pulled himself together enough to whisper, "By Y-You-Know-Who."

And suddenly it felt like Ron's whole world fell out from under him as Dobby started pushing at the back of his legs trying to get him to move. As they walked out of the door Ron turned to look at Draco whose face he noticed was nearly as pale as his own must have been. Neither one of them said anything though as the door closed behind Ron and Dobby, leaving Draco behind as they made their way to the headmaster's office.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So November is finally over and my final word count was an unimpressive 28,692…only a little over half way what it was supposed to be (and I'm still no where near the end of the fic either O.o). I was doing well until around Thanksgiving and my Birthday…then my word count sort of just…died. Not only that but I got really stuck until yesterday. That's okay since I still have about maybe 13 or 15 chapters to edit and upload for you guys this month.

P.S. My grammer sucks and I know it and I'm sure that the Tylenol PM I feel kicking in right about now didn't really make my last read through very effective so I'm apologizing now if it's unreadable Sorry.


	14. Year Five: Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling. **

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst, Boring Chapter Alert!!!!!**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 14**

Ron sat in his bed staring at Phineas Nigellus' empty frame. Downstairs he could hear everybody else enjoying their Christmas lunch and getting ready to go to St. Mungo's to visit his father.

He wasn't going. His dad didn't want to see him anyway.

After he had left Draco he followed Dobby to Dumbledore's office and when he entered he was met by Ginny, his brothers and Harry. All of them looked at him accusingly and didn't have to ask where he had been. His shirt was still half open and he had even noticed his pants weren't buttoned right. As he fixed himself Dumbledore explained that his father had been injured while he was working for the Order. Creating a portkey he sent them all to number twelve Grimmauld Place to meet with his mother.

When she had gotten there to tell them that he was going to be all right she couldn't look at Ron. Her eyes landed on him for a brief second but then she looked away, like she had seen something disgusting and didn't want to look at it. Seeing his mother look at him like that made his stomach twist and his eyes burn but he held back any tears.

Later that morning when they went to the hospital to see his dad Mr. Weasley looked at him and, barely nodding his head, curtly greeted him with a simple "Ron" before he went on to hug Ginny.

That was a week ago and something inside told him that it wouldn't be any different this time. Ron didn't want to see the man if he didn't even want him there.

Ron opened another chocolate frog and stuffed it in his mouth. He thought it was one of the one's that Tonks had given him. He wasn't sure since about the only things he had gotten were chocolate and other sweets.

That morning he woke up to the smallest pile of Christmas presents he'd ever seen. What made it particularly worse was being able to compare its size to Harry's much larger pile on the other side of the room. He'd gotten chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes and every-flavor beans from Tonks and Hagrid who also gave him a Chuddly Cannon poster that he already had. He was surprised to get a homework planner that talked from Hermione as well as more Cauldron Cakes though he knew it was probably because she had already bought them and didn't know what else to do with any of it except give it to him. Lupin had given him a book about Defensive magicks. Ron could tell that it was part of the same set he and Sirius had given Harry. He didn't get anything from Sirius and he didn't get anything from his family. He didn't even get the usual Weasley sweater that his mom always made for everybody. The usual Weasley sweater that he realized everybody else had still gotten when he had tried to go down for breakfast earlier that morning. He was pulled out of his thoughts when someone knocked on the bedroom door.

"Go away," he said. He knew it was rude but at the moment he didn't really care. They didn't listen though as the door opened and Remus Lupin walk through it.

"Ronald," he started awkwardly, as though he didn't know how to say what it was he wanted to say. "All of us are ready to leave for St. Mungo's. We were wondering if you wanted to join us."

"We?" He looked at his former teacher as the man struggled to think of what to say next. Finally Lupin just let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the bed next to him.

"_I_ was wondering if you wanted to join us," he said. Ron didn't say anything. He found an interesting smudge on the wall and decided to stare at that instead. "I know that it's hard for you right now," he continued, "but you have to try to understand that's it's not exactly easy for people to accept…" he trailed off.

"To accept what?" Ron asked angrily. "That their son, brother or friend is gay?" The word came out of his mouth before he could think to stop it. It felt weird saying it, sounded weird hearing himself say it. If felt even stranger saying it in reference to himself since he had never once thought of himself that way. Not even during all the time that he and Draco were secretly meeting each other did he think of himself as being gay.

"Well…yes," Lupin said. "For most people it's just not seen as being…" again he trailed off.

"It's not normal," Ron finished for him. He turned to look at the older man. Lupin sighed and looked at his hands.

"I think," He said slowly, "That your mum and dad are more angry about _who_ it is rather than their gender."

"Well if they would just listen to me they'd know that Malfoy and I aren't exactly a couple."

"Is that so?" Lupin asked curiously. "Then…just what are the two of you?"

Ron stared at him for a little while before he looked away and said, "I don't know." It was the truth. After what had happened in the Room of Requirement he didn't know what was going on between them anymore. He had wanted to put a stop to it but now he didn't know if he could. It wasn't even that he was afraid Draco wouldn't let him anymore but he wasn't sure whether he really wanted it to stop. He'd though a lot about Draco since his arrival at Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Lupin nodded and smiled at him knowingly. He patted Ron on the back and stood up. "I'm sure you'll figure it out," he said.

"And how do you feel about all of this?" Ron asked.

Lupin stared at him, thinking. Finally he said, "I'm in no real position to judge you Ron." Ah yes he was referring to the werewolf thing. Ron had almost forgotten about that. "You're free to live how you like." He smiled at Ron. Ron tried to smile back.

"I do wish to advise you to be careful with him of course," Lupin continued as he made his way to the door. "Please don't forget that Draco _is_ the son of a very influential Death Eater."

"I know." That was the big thing Ron had continuously tried to forget during his week of seclusion.

Lupin opened the door but paused. Turning he said, "And make sure you talk to your mother about all of this before you go back to school." With that he shut the door, leaving Ron in his solitude once again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This Chapter was shorter than the last few. I was thinking about adding the next part onto this one but I still wanted to work with it a little more. Sorry that it's boring.

Oh and of course Mr. Weasley was going to be okay. I'm still going to have most of the major events from the original book (just altered a bit to fit my own plot of course). Unfortunately fifth year is all set up mostly so none of the fun stuff will happen until year six…which I haven't even started writing yet...and none of the _really_ fun stuff will happen until year seven. I don't even want to think about how long it's going to take me to get that far…I wish I was writing it now though.


	15. Year Five: Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet know as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash and Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 15**

The next morning Ron woke up to a tapping sound on the window above his bed. Groaning he rolled over and buried himself deeper into his blankets. The annoying and persistent tapping continued though and was soon joined by Pigs overexcited hooting.

"For Gods sake would you shut that damn bird up," Harry groaned from his own bed on the other side of the room.

Biting his tongue Ron threw the covers off and turned to the window to see who was causing all the trouble. What he saw was a large eagle owl sitting outside on the windowsill. He immediately recognized it as the bird that brought Draco his daily packages from his mother. Attached to its leg was a medium sized green velvet bag with a small card tied to it causing the bird to balance awkwardly on the outside window sill. Jumping up out of bed he stumbled to the window and pulled it open.

He was met with a rush of cold wind and a colorful prose of curses from Harry as the bird flew in and landed on the headboard of his bed. He shut the window and quickly jumped back into his bed to pull a blanket over his shoulders as the other boy tried to bury himself deeper into his blankets.

He stroked the big owl on the side of its head, brushing away some of the snow as he did, and untied the bag from its leg and put it off to the side. He opened his chest at the foot of his bed and rummaged through looking for Pig's owl nuts while the little owl continued to excitedly flap around in his cage.

"I thought I said…" Harry started, sitting up and throwing the covers off of himself but when he saw the owl he stopped, a look of plain shock taking over his face. "Is that Malfoy's owl?"

"Yeah what of it?" Ron snapped back as he finally found the owl treats and sat back up to feed some to the eagle owl. He smiled as it gingerly took the treats from the palm of his hand, giving a soft hoot as though to say thank you.

"What the hell is that filthy bird doing here?" Harry yelled. Hedwig, who had somehow been able to sleep through Pig's hooting and flapping, jumped awake at her master's outburst.

"Sod off will you," Ron yelled back. "It's only doing its bloody job." Holding out his arm the owl obediently climbed up onto it and then onto Ron's shoulder.

"That bird belongs to a death eater," Harry yelled. "It shouldn't…"

"It belongs to Draco," Ron yelled, cutting Harry off. He grabbed the bag that the owl had brought.

"Malfoy is…" Harry started but Ron cut him off again.

"His father is," Ron said, "but Draco isn't." He walked out after that, making sure to slam the door behind him. He didn't care if he woke anybody up though he was impressed that the large owl on his shoulder didn't even seem bothered by it.

He walked down to the basement where the kitchen was. When he walked through the door he saw his mother and Lupin sitting at the table drinking tea. Both of them looked up at him. His mother immediately looked back at her mug as Lupin stood up to greet him.

"Good morning Ron." Ron mumbled a "good morning" in return as Lupin looked at the owl perched on Ron's shoulder. "And who might this beauty belong to?" Ron glanced at his mother who turned to look at them. Her focus was on the owl though, not Ron.

"It's Draco's," he said after swallowing the lump in his throat. His mother's eyes snapped back to him but with an angry look in them. He braced himself.

"Draco's?" she yelled. "Draco Malfoy's? What do you think you are doing letting that thing into this house."

"Now Molly," Lupin said stepping between her and Ron. "Ron has every right to be exchanging letters with whomever he chooses. And it's not as though…"

"Anything that boy sends is undoubtedly cursed," she screamed cutting him off. "His father's a death eater and very well known and liked within the ministry. There's no question that Lucius already knows all the details about what happened to Arthur." She was nearly purple face as she pointed her finger at Ron. "Anything that this bird brought for you put it on the table now."

"But mum…"

"NOW."

Ron looked at Lupin for some support but he just shook his head and with an apologetic look said, "Better do as she says Ron."

Feeling utterly defeated he placed the green bag with the card still attached onto the table. His mother immediately snatched it up and handed it to Lupin who hesitated to take it. She took out her wand and with a wave conjured up a large bird cage.

"Bird too," she said looking sternly at Ron. He didn't argue, couldn't argue really, though the owl certainly did. By the time the owl was finally in the cage Lupin had a rather large gash on his forearm and was dripping blood ever where. Ron felt a pang as some of the droplets landed on the green velvet bag that Lupin had placed back on the table.

"No I'm fine Molly," he said as she tried looking at it. Ignoring further attempts he took the cage and the bag and with another apologetic look at Ron, walked out of the kitchen.

Sighing, his mother threw herself down into one of the chairs. Ron kept standing, staring at the spot on the table where his package from Draco had been. He felt tears trying to shove their way to the front of his vision but he held them back. Everything about his mother he hated at that moment. He didn't care how tired or drawn she looked right then or how she must be feeling with everything that was happening. He hated her. Finally she looked at him.

"Sit down Ron," she said calmly though Ron could hear a slight shake in her voice. "We need to talk."

"No."

"Excuse me," she said.

Ron shook his head. "No." He turned and walked out of the kitchen

"Ronald Weasley," She yelled. "You march yourself back into this kitchen right now or so help me…" he didn't hear the rest of what she said though. As he walked up the stairs he bumped into Harry. He could feel the anger and frustration running through him as he shoved the boy wonder back and into Mrs. Black's portrait, setting off her usual screams.

As the chaos began and people started filing out if their rooms to see what all the noise was about, Ron reached his and Harry's bedroom. Slamming the door shut he picked up his wand from the table beside his bed. After locking the door he turned and threw himself back into his bed. He pulled the covers over himself and covered his head with the pillow.

He knew that he just blew his chance to talk to his mother about everything. He knew that if he had just sat down and explained she would have listened and everything would have started to get better. He hated himself for being so stubborn but somehow at that moment he hated her more. He hadn't even gotten to see what was inside the bag Draco had sent him. He wasn't even able to read the card.

It was because Draco's father was a death eater and a pretty powerful one in everyway that counts. It was only natural that nobody would trust Draco. In everybody's minds Draco was just as evil as his father and more than likely willing to help him in any scheme to thwart the Order. Ron had to admit that they were right, that Draco was the perfect candidate for a future death eater but a part of Ron disagreed with himself.

It was that part of Ron that reminded himself that Draco was different. He knew that because he saw the part of Draco that the Slytherin never let anybody else see. Draco couldn't be evil because Ron knew that he was just as human as he was. Somebody as evil as they claimed him to be wouldn't be able to shed tears the way he saw Draco shed them that night or call out for someone the way he had called out for Ron. There was no way anyone could fake what Ron saw in Draco that night.

At least that's what he hoped.

……………………………………

Ron stayed in the room for the rest of the day and most of the next, only coming out when the need to relieve himself became unbearable. By that time everybody had given up on him and decided that it was probably better to pretend he didn't exist. Harry took the opportunity to move all of is stuff upstairs to the twins' room. Ron didn't care anymore though. He liked it better that way.

……………………………………

Ron's new routine for the rest of the holiday consisted of sleeping or sitting in his room all day and only coming out at odd intervals for the bathroom and food, usually in the middle of the night. It was during one of these late night trips to the kitchen that he got the large slap in the face that he probably deserved.

It was the night before they were leaving to return to Hogwarts. He had spent most of the evening and that night packing, unpacking, then repacking. It gave him something to do and made him look busy if anybody decided to come up to see his progress. Nobody did though.

He was about to open the door to the kitchen when he heard a sound on the other side. He couldn't hear it very well so he put his ear up to the door to listen. It was somebody crying and he was pretty sure it was his mom.

He stood there feeling torn. He was still upset with his mother but at the same time he knew that he was the reason she was crying. Taking a deep breath he turned the handle and opened the door.

He mother was sitting at the table but when she saw him standing in the doorway she jumped up. They stared at each other for a few seconds before she turned away from him, wiping her face with a handkerchief.

"Oh it's you Ron," she sniffed. She paused for a few more seconds, still dabbing at her eyes. "Oh you must be hungry. Haven't seen you all day. Is all of your packing done then?" She began busying herself with the stove, pulling down pots and pans. She was still crying.

"Mum?" she stopped bustling about, listening, waiting for him to continue. But he didn't know what he should say. No words could describe how horrible he felt right then. He walked up behind her. Placing his hand on her shoulder he turned her around and before she said anything pulled her into a hug.

She was surprised at first but soon he could feel her arms wrap around his neck as she began to cry into his shoulder. Resting his chin on the top of her head he held on to her tighter.

His mother was human after all too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: In the disclaimer you might have noticed that I added Clamp. I figured I better start putting their name in there because soon Sakura is going to start slightly crossing over with Tokyo Babylon. If you haven't read it you don't have to worry very much since it's going to be all background and in any case I think you'd enjoy the whole mystery of Draco better if you don't know anything about the series. It's not even going to pop up at all for another 12 chapters anyway I just felt obligated to start giving them credit for this horrible little rabid plot bunny


	16. Year Five: Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash and Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 16**

Ron threw himself to the ground as he stepped off of the night bus, an experience he never wanted to repeat. After he thanked all the gods he could think of—and even some he made up on the spot—he stood and looked up at the big castle with its tall towers and awkwardly slanted walls. He wasn't sure how he felt being back.

"Ron," Lupin came up behind him. Ron turned around to see Lupin holding out the green velvet bag with the little card still attached. "You will be happy to know that this was curse, hex and jinx free."

Hesitantly he took it back and put in his trunk. He figured he'd open it when he got settled back in the dormitory. "What did you guys end up doing with the owl?" he asked.

"We let her go that same day," Lupin smiled. "Don't worry Ron she was unharmed."

Ron nodded and sighed in relief. He had liked her calm demeanor. He said good bye to Lupin and Tonks and picked up one of the ends of his trunk and without waiting for any of the others started the walk up the path to the castle entrance.

It felt like it took forever to reach the front doors. When he finally walked through them he had to sit down for a minute as he caught his breath. The entrance hall was full of other students greeting each other; others were just hanging back or passing through. Ron stood up and taking his trunk started to make his way through the crowd.

As he reached the marble stairs leading to the first floor he noticed a group of Slytherins standing near the bottom. It wasn't too hard to pick out the pale blond hair of Draco Malfoy. Pansy Parkinson it seemed had glued herself to his arm as she laughed at what ever it was that one of the others had just said. Draco wasn't laughing though. In fact Ron thought that he looked more anxious than anything as he cast another nervous look around the entrance hall. He spotted Ron amongst the throng of bodies and pulled himself away from the pug faced girl, much to her dislike.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

"You mean the bag your owl sent…" Ron started but was cut off by Draco's annoyed reply:

"What else do you think I mean," he snapped.

"Yes I got it back just now," Ron replied coldly.

"Just now?" Draco asked in shock. Then more slowly he asked, "So you haven't opened it yet?"

"No," Ron shook his head. "I haven't had the chance yet."

Draco sighed in annoyance but dropped it as he picked up the other end of Ron's trunk. Together they brought it up to the seventh floor, exchanging their holiday stories.

"So you ended up going home after all?" Ron asked as they dragged the heavy chest up a flight of stairs.

"Well after you left there wasn't any point staying here," Draco replied. "So what about you did you get to talk to your mother or did she just pretend you weren't there?"

"I talked to her a little bit," Ron said. They were silent for a minute.

"And?" Draco asked.

"And she's still not to happy about it," Ron answered. The two of them had stayed up most of the night before talking. He had told her everything and she had listened but that was about it. Draco didn't say anything else.

"Your owl wasn't hurt was she?" Ron asked.

"No," Draco answered coldly. "She was fine. Why?"

"Well they weren't too easy on her trying to get her into that cage," Ron said. Draco's eyes snapped toward him, looking pretty angry. He looked like he was about to say something but thought better of it.

"She came back with a note," He said. "From your mother."

"Oh?" Ron was surprised but felt sort of nervous at the same time. What had his mother written to Draco? "What did it say?"

"Just told me not to write or send anything else to you," he said. "I was afraid that that meant that you didn't get my present."

"Well I almost thought I didn't either," Ron said. "She was really scared that you were trying to curse me." Draco said nothing.

"What about your parents?" Ron asked as they reached the seventh floor and walked towards the portrait of the Fat Lady. Draco was silent. Ron glanced at him and noticed that he had the same cold expression from the last time they had talked about his dad. Ron figured that it didn't go very well.

They reached the Fat Lady who asked for the password. Ron looked at Draco nervously.

"Well?" he asked, "What's the password?"

Sighing Ron turned to him. "Malfoy…"

"Draco."

"What?"

"Call me Draco," he said. "That is my name after all."

"Why?" He'd admit it. He sounded like an idiot.

"I think _Ron_," he said, "That if we're going to be together than we should call each other by our first names. It's what normal couples do isn't it?"

"Well yes but," Ron paused. Sighing again he continued, "I don't know if you've noticed but what we're doing isn't very normal and…" Again he stopped, not entirely sure how he was going to put it.

"And?" Draco asked.

"Well what we are…I mean we're not _really_ a couple are we?" There he'd said it and now he was sure he was going to somehow be in a world of pain for it too.

"Well what are we then," Draco said curtly.

"What are we?" Ron repeated, shocked that Draco wasn't seeing his logic. "Malfoy…"

"Draco."

"Why the bloody hell does it matter?" Ron yelled.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn," Draco yelled back. "It's not like it's that difficult."

"Malfoy…"

"Draco."

"Whatever," Ron could feel his ears getting hotter. "How can you not see how wrong this is?"

"Because maybe I don't see anything wrong with it," he said.

"Malfoy," Draco's eyes twitched a little but he didn't say anything this time. "The two of us are both guys."

Draco didn't say anything. He just stood there looking at Ron, his eyes starting to dampen. Ron felt a familiar twisting though instead of his stomach this time he felt it in his chest. He opened his mouth to say something—to apologize maybe—but before he said anything the sound of voices and dragging trunks filtered down the hall.

He turned to see the rest of his group come to a stop in front of them. His eyes met with Hermione's for a second or two until she turned away. He heard Draco mumble something; he wasn't able to catch it. He turned to see the blond boy walking away in the opposite direction. He wanted to follow, wanted to say something but felt rooted to that spot.

"Trouble in paradise?" he heard Harry say as the rest of them gave the password and started filing into the common room. Ignoring him, Ron picked up his trunk, made so much heavier now without the extra help, and walked through the port hole.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Yay another chapter!! Go ahead you can throw things at me now. I know I'd want to if I were you guys.


	17. Year Five: Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst followed by some…OMG…Fluff.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 17**

"What are you reading?"

Startled Ron looked up from his book to see Luna Lovegood staring back at him with her usual dreamy expression. He held up the defensive magic book.

"Oh Harry was showing me that one this morning," she said. "Well actually he was looking at it with Hermione. I don't think he likes me very much."

"I think it's because you're weird," Ron said looking back at his book. He wasn't much in the mood to be nice. He hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights since his and Draco's argument.

"Is that why the two of you don't like each other anymore?" she asked, "Because you're weird?"

"I'm not weird," Ron snapped.

"Oh," she said. "Well that's what everyone else is saying. That you and Draco Malfoy aren't normal." Ron had to fight not to flinch. Even thought he had said the same thing to Draco it still hurt hearing it.

"You and Draco aren't talking now either." It was more a statement then a question.

"No," Ron replied.

"Why not?"

"Why does it matter?" Ron was starting to get annoyed.

"You said something mean to him didn't you?" he looked at her and she stared back at him with such a knowing look it scared him.

"Maybe," he said hesitantly.

"You should apologize."

"But why?" he asked.

"Because you hurt his feelings."

"He's a Slytherin and a Malfoy," Ron said defensively. He was about to say Draco didn't have any feelings but he could feel himself choking on the words.

"You'll feel better," she said and started to walk towards the door.

"Luna," Ron called after her.

She turned at the door and looked at him. "Yes Ronald."

"What do you think?" he asked. "About me and Malfoy that is."

She looked thoughtful for a minute. "I think everybody else is being much too narrow minded about it." She turned but paused again. "The Slytherin team is practicing tonight. I think you should go." Then she was gone, leaving Ron alone in the unused classroom as the bell announcing the end of breakfast sounded.

………………………………

He'd gone crazy. That's all there was to it. He had gone completely mental. It was the only explanation he could think of for why he was standing outside the Slytherin's changing tent in the freezing cold within eye shot of maybe a dozen of Draco's fan club. He swore he could see the gears in Pansy's incredibly small brain turning, plotting his extermination. Blaise didn't look very happy either. Ron was still trying to figure out what had possessed him to come out here.

Soon the team started filing out. Ron felt what little bit of color he had left leave his face as he saw Draco, flanked by his bulky bodyguards, come out and the mass of students surround him. Ron felt an urge to run away but found himself rooted to that spot.

Blaise leaned in and said something in Draco's ear. Ron didn't have anytime to feel any feelings of jealousy this time cause as Blaise pulled away Draco turned to look at him and Ron felt his whole body freeze from that icy stare.

Draco said something to the group, Ron didn't hear, and all of them very reluctantly started heading back for the school. Blaise hung back a bit longer than the rest but Draco shot him a piercing glare and he too left. Soon Ron and Draco were alone. Ron forced himself to take a step towards him, and then another. He didn't know why it was so hard. Soon he was only a few feet away from Draco.

"What do you want _Weasley_," Draco said venomously, causing Ron to flinch.

"We need to talk," Ron said through his chattering teethe.

"I think you've already said plenty." Ron took another step closer.

"I wanted to apologize," He quickly sputtered. Draco's features softened a bit but then, catching himself, hardened again.

"Look," Ron continued, taking another step closer to Draco, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk the other day. I'm just so screwed up from all of this." Draco didn't say anything, didn't move. Ron felt his stomach fill with butterflies. He readjusted his scarf and pulled his cloak tighter. He decided to just dive right in.

"It's just that you came out of nowhere with this and then we were going so fast I didn't know how to handle it." Still Draco said nothing. "And then everything with Harry and the whole school finding out and my parents and…" Ron stopped and shakily took a breath trying to keep his composure.

"All I've been doing is arguing with myself saying that I don't want anything to do with you but then all I can think about is _you_," he took another breath. "I can't stand it. All of these feelings I don't understand and they're driving me absolutely crazy." He stopped, catching his breath. Draco stood there staring at him for a while.

"So what do you want to do?" Draco finally asked.

Ron looked at him, and after all this time he still couldn't come up with an answer. He just managed to shake his head and look down at his feet. His eyes were burning and he knew the he was about to cry again. He couldn't help but wonder how pathetic Draco must have thought he was. Draco took his hand suddenly.

"Why don't we go inside," he said. "It's freezing out here."

Ron smiled and nodded his agreement as the two of them started the walk around the lake back toward the castle.

………………………………

"Can I kiss you?"

Ron stopped with his foot half raised, ready to walk up the marble staircase. He turned around to see Draco still standing there looking deathly serious.

"W-what?" Ron asked.

"I _said_," he sounded slightly annoyed, "Can I kiss you—please?"

"What are you asking _me_ for?" Ron asked. He was aware of several students watching them, mostly Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, and felt his face start to turn red.

"Maybe because you're the one I want to kiss," Draco said slowly as he smiled at Ron's dumbfounded expression.

"I mean," Ron said quickly, "You don't usually ask. So why are you now?"

"You were the one who said that we're moving to fast," Draco said.

"Well…" but Ron couldn't think of anything to say. He glanced towards some Slytherins standing to the side, all of them trying to overhear the conversation and failing in their discreetness.

"Can I kiss you or not?" Draco said. "It_ is_ a simple yes or no question you know."

"Okay," Ron mumbled feeling his cheeks grow even hotter.

He closed he eyes as Draco took another step closer. He didn't want to see all of the other students staring at them. He felt Draco's lips press against his, not hard but softly.

It suddenly felt like a dam had been broken. All of the uncertainties and aggravation—all of the confusion was just washed away. In its place he was filled with a warmth unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was comforting—it felt safe. The rest of the world fell away and soon it was like they were floating in a universe all their own. The kiss felt like it had gone on forever—and he kind of wished that it had—but to soon he felt Draco's lips disappear.

Ron opened his eyes and saw the icy gray of Draco's only inches from his. He could only imagine that the same sense of euphoria he saw reflected in Draco's eyes could also be seen in his. He could feel Draco's breath tickle across his cheek and he was suddenly overcome with an urge to kiss him again. He leaned down to take his lips back into another when he felt Draco's hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Good night Ron," Draco said softly and pulled away completely. Left in a daze Ron watched him walk away and turn to go down the stairs that lead into the dungeons.

Ron was aware that everyone's eyes were on him but he didn't care. He felt like he was standing in a dream. He brought his fingers up to touch his lips, trying to hold onto that warmth.

……………………………….

Ron threw the door of his dormitory open so hard that it banged against the wall and scared someone who was sitting on their bed. Ron practically leaped for his trunk and pulled it open as Neville poked his head out from behind his bed curtains.

"Everything all right Ron?" he asked.

"Perfect," Ron replied as he started pulling stuff out of his trunk. Neville climbed out of the bed and took the few steps toward Ron.

"You and Harry haven't fought again?" Harry? Ron couldn't even remember if he'd even seen Harry or Hermione sitting in the common room as he ran through.

"No nothing like that," Ron answered as he finally pulled out the green velvet bag that he was looking for.

"What's that?"

"I don't know yet." Ron stood up and pulled open his bed curtains so that he could sit down. Neville climbed in next to him. Ron turned it in his hands, looking at it from every angle.

"Well are you going to open it?" Neville asked staring at him.

Ron pulled at the string holding it shut and pulled open the top of the bag. He reached in and pulled out a bare tree branch. Ron stared at it feeling very confused.

"What is it?" Neville asked.

Ron didn't know though nor did he understand what it was supposed to mean. It was only about the length of Ron's forearm and was completely bare. No leaves or flowers.

"Can I have a look at it?" Neville asked, holding his hand out. Ron handed him the branch. Neville held on to it like it was the most fragile thing in the world as he turned it around in his hands.

"Well," he said after a few minutes, "It doesn't look like it was taken from its tree very long ago. Why don't you check the bag again?"

Ron held the bag upside down and shook it but nothing else came out. Neville's eyes narrowed in thought as he started looking at the branch again. Ron picked up the small card that had been tied to it. He opened it up and could only smile at the simple massage that was written there.

"What does it say?" Neville asked. Ron handed him the card and took the branch back now looking at it as if it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"_Love Draco_," Neville read aloud and looked up at the branch in Ron's hand. "I don't get it," he said making eye contact with Ron. "He's given you a dying tree branch."

Ron didn't care though as he made a spot and placed it on his bedside table. He took the velvet bag and the small card and placed them under his pillow.

"So," Neville started slowly. "You and Draco are all better now?"

Ron smiled as the warm feeling from before started to come over him again. He turned to Neville and nodded. Neville returning the smile sighed in relief.

"Well that's good," he said as he readjusted himself on Ron's bed. "So how was your holiday?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Yay another one!!!


	18. Year Five: Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, a little Fluffy.**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 18**

"You know you don't have to sit with me," Ron said as he and Neville watched Harry walk down and pick a spot near the front of the table.

"It's okay," Neville said. "Me and Harry aren't really getting along to good lately anyway." Ron could tell that Neville was still upset about it though. Ron took another bite out of his toast.

"Why?" he asked. "What've you been fighting about?" Neville didn't answer him though. He looked back up the table were Harry had sat to join Hermione. He felt a small pang of guilt as he stared at her bushy brown hair and had to force his eyes away. His eyes caught sight of Hagrid sitting at the teachers table covered in new cuts and bruises. Catching Ron looking at him Hagrid threw an enthusiastic wave his way. Smiling Ron waved back.

"Do you know where Hagrid got all those injuries?" Neville asked him.

"No idea," Ron answered and turned his attention back to his breakfast.

Ron was just taking a bite out of his omelet when a blur of robes and blond hair came and sat down next to him and Ron found himself choking on it instead.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Ron said between coughs.

"Well good morning to you too love," Draco said in mock sarcasm.

"No I mean," Ron said controlling himself, "What are you doing sitting _here_?"

"Well I wonder," Draco said as he took a piece of bacon off of Ron's plate.

"But this is the Gryffindor table," Ron said.

"Please don't remind me," Draco said taking a bite of bacon.

"But this is the _Gryffindor_ table," Ron repeated. He looked to Neville for some help but the other boy was to busy admiring the enchanted ceiling.

"I don't think there's any rule that forbids me sitting here," Draco said. Ron stared at him in disbelief. "But if I'm not wanted," he said and before Ron could say anything he got up and walked to the other end of the hall sitting between Crabb and Goyle.

"Well seems like you guys are off to a good start," Neville said. Ron groaned and laid his head on the table.

"I'm such an idiot," he said. Neville stayed silent.

Lifting his head Ron looked across at Draco. He was laughing already but his eyes strayed over towards Ron. When he saw Ron looking at him his eyes hardened and he immediately looked away. Was Draco going to avoid him again just because Ron made a big deal about sitting with him?

Ron's stomach felt sick at the thought and he realized that it was the prospect of another week or so without Draco that made him feel that way. He knew that Draco was going to wait for him to apologize too. There wasn't anyway that the Slytherin was going to make the first move to make up. Knowing all of this Ron took a deep breath and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Neville asked.

"Crazy," Ron said and started for the other end of the dining hall.

Draco saw him coming almost immediately. He stared as Ron made his way past the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables and stopped in front of him and his pompous looking group.

"What is it now Weasley," Draco drawled. Ron bit his tongue. He deserved it.

"I'm sorry," he said, letting out a breath he'd been holding. Draco stared at him and Ron found himself pleased that he actually looked surprised. Draco's cronies were surprisingly quiet as was the rest of the Slytherin table.

"So I can sit with you?" Draco asked.

Ron nodded. "If you still want to."

Draco let go of a bored sigh. "I don't think I want to anymore." The table snickered.

Ron didn't flinch, for which he was grateful, but kept a hard expression as he started to turn to walk away. He felt a hand grab his wrist though before he could.

"I'd prefer it if you sat here with me."

Ron froze. He wasn't sure if he had heard that right. He turned and saw a look of utmost seriousness plastered allover Draco's face, and expressions of astonishment from the rest of the Slytherin house. Ron tried a small smile as he swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

Goyle moved over, after an intense glare from Draco, and Ron took his spot. When a thousand curses didn't find their way to him he let out another breath and tried his best to settle down as most of the conversation picked back up.

He was surprised to find that most of it was normal, talk about O.W.L. exams, homework, the upcoming Quidditch match. He didn't know why but for some reason he'd always pictured conversations among the Slytherin house to be filled with talk about dark magic and how cool you-know-who is and how great it would be to work for him.

No one seemed to pay him any mind either. He was an outsider and so they weren't talking to him and such but that was it. No one broke out into a verse from _Weasley is our King_ like he thought they would. He also noticed that nobody seemed to care about the way Draco leaned into him, or how Draco's hand had found its way to Ron's waist. Nobody except Pansy and Blaise that is who both fixed him each with a deadly glare.

Ron glanced toward the Gryffindor table. Neville stared back at him looking white as a ghost. He looked further down the table and saw Harry glaring at him almost as deadly as Blaise and Pansy. Hermione was no where to be seen though and he started to feel that pang of guilt again. Draco pulled his attention back to him though.

"Are you going to be busy today?"

"I don't think so," Ron answered, looking at him.

"Then you should come down to the pitch and watch our practice today," Draco said. Ron thought he heard a groan from Goyle but couldn't be sure.

"You're practicing today too?" Ron asked.

"All day," Draco said sounding bored. "Our match against Ravenclaw is next week."

"Oh," Ron said. Trying not to look at any of the other Slytherins he cleared his throat. "Yeah I guess I can go watch your practice." Draco smiled and leaned forward to lightly kiss Ron's lips. Angela's angry curses in the back of his mind were immediately washed away by his now familiar warmth. He could feel the burning stares of so many students as they pulled away. Ron didn't care though as he smiled and drew Draco back for another one.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I'm starting to run out of things to say here XD Sorry that this is such a boring Chapter. If you're getting sick of all the filler chapters don't worry...so am I. Unfortunately they're necessary.

I might be able to get you two chapters tomorrow since I think work tonight is going to be boring (but you can never be to sure working at a rest home) so I might be able to get a couple chapters edited tonight. I'm not sure though so don't kill if I can't.

Love you guys by the way


	19. Year Five: Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash…and we're back to Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 19**

"So who are we supposed to be cheering for?" Neville asked as another cold wind blew past, sending shivers through all three of them.

"For whoever you want," Ron said through his scarf.

"Or we could cheer when both teams score," Luna said dreamily.

"Isn't that a bit traitorous for you Luna?" Ron asked her. "You are a Ravenclaw after all. Shouldn't you just be cheering for your own team?"

"But Draco's a friend now isn't he?" she asked as she watch the Slytherins score another goal, making it a 170 points tie now between the two teams. Ron wasn't sure how to answer that though as he was sure that Draco didn't think of the other two as much of anything. He didn't really talk to either of them at least.

"I think since we're in Ravenclaw territory it would be safer if we cheered for them," Neville said peering around at the other students around them. "Besides, Draco friend or not, I still really don't like they way the Slytherin team plays."

Ron had to agree with him. The Slytherins played dirty and liked to cheat. It was why none of the other houses liked them. Watching their practices the past week didn't really help Ron like them any better either.

Everyone in the stands stood up and started cheering as they saw the Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang make a dive, apparently spotting the snitch. Draco dived after her. Ron desperately looked for the tiny golden ball, hoping that she wasn't trying to trick him. She wasn't though as Ron caught sight of a golden blur not far ahead of her. Draco was catching up to her fast.

Ron felt a horrible anxiety in his stomach as he watched the two of them weave in and out of the other players, dodging bludgers as they went. The snitch suddenly went into a steep dive and the two of them followed. Draco pulled beside Cho, making it a neck and neck race for the snitch that was only a few feet in front of them. Both of them reached out their hands but neither could quite reach it. They were quickly coming closer and closer to the ground but the stupid golden ball kept going so they kept following. Then finally Draco grew tired of the stupid race.

As Ron watched it all seemed to happen in slow motion. They were still neck and neck, still diving for the snitch. Then Draco suddenly jerked his broom towards Cho. Not wanting to collide, she jerked her broom away but lost control of it. As Draco sped ahead Cho fell towards the ground, her broom spinning uncontrollably. She just managed to pull the handle up as the bottom collided with the earth and her body gave a horrible lurch forward and she tumble to a stop at least fifteen feet away. The Slytherins let out a loud cheer as Draco finally caught hold of the snitch.

Ron felt a terrible churning in his stomach as he stared at Cho Chang's motionless body. He felt his throat start to burn as he tasted the bile in his mouth. Doubling over he began retching, causing Neville and many others to jump out of his way. Dark sparks played at the edge of his vision as he looked up to see madam Hooch as well as Dumbledore and McGonagall run onto the pitch. His gaze rose up as he caught sight of Draco flying overhead, triumphantly holding the golden snitch above his head. The whole world seemed to close around him though as he felt himself falling and everything turned black.

…………………………………

Ron had never fainted before. Yes he'd been hit on the head and knocked out once before but never had he fainted. He quickly decided that it was something that he never wanted to do again as he felt himself slowly wake up. There were two people on either side of him, carrying him. He could hear people yelling.

"What the hell happened?"

"Fainted."

"Fainted? What do you mean fainted?"

"I mean he fainted after watching that damn horrible catch of yours."

His head was so muddled that he found that he couldn't recognize the voices though he knew they sounded familiar. He cracked his eyes open a little to see Fred and George on either side of him. Ahead he could make out Neville's back and Luna as she walked backwards. He could hear somebody walking behind him.

"Ronald you're awake," Luna said causing his brothers to stop. They sat him down on the floor and she kneeled down in front of him with Neville leaning over her.

"How do you feel?" Neville asked.

"Like I've been trampled by a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Ron replied, smiling at Luna's slight gasp.

He sat up a little more, starting to get his bearings. They were in the middle of a corridor, which one and what floor Ron didn't know. Behind Luna and Neville he saw Fred and George holding back:

"You," Ron said angrily, memories of the match flooding back to him. Draco stopped struggling and looked at Ron in surprise. Even the others looked surprised from how his voice sounded. Ron didn't care though as he shakily stood up.

"Ron…"

"Don't you 'Ron' me _Draco_," Ron yelled. Draco's eyebrow twitched but he remained silent. "What the fuck did you think you were doing?"

"I _think_," he replied coldly, all the concern in his voice gone, "I was helping my team win." The other four stood back.

"By nearly killing Cho in the process?"

"Sorry Weasley but that's how the game is played," Draco yelled back.

"Deliberately throwing her broom out of control in a dive like that is NOT how you play the game." Ron felt his ears growing hotter and hotter as his nails dug into the palms of his hands.

"Why should you care anyway?" Draco shouted and his face started to turn a shade pinker. "She's only Potter's fucking girlfriend."

Ron took the few steps toward Draco and grabbed him by the front of his quidditch robes that he was still wearing. He threw Draco up against the wall. Draco didn't move to fight back though. He just stood there glaring hard at Ron.

"She's still a human being," he screamed at the blond. He wanted to punch him even if it was just to get him to stop looking at him like that—like he was the bad guy. He suddenly hated himself for ever thinking that Draco was any different than he first though he was—for thinking that he was capable of feeling any kind of compassion.

He threw Draco to the ground, almost relishing in the sound of his stupid thick skull hitting the hard wood floor. With out another word he turned and started to walk away, Neville and his brother's following close behind.

He refused to look back. Not even when he heard Draco's angry screams.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Again you have permission to throw things at me


	20. Year Five: Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash…and Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 20**

Ron returned to his routine of getting up early for breakfast and leaving the hall before to many people showed up. He'd spend the rest of breakfast in the unused classroom reading his book or working on his homework. He laughed at himself when ever he though of how much he was turning into Hermione. A lot of the times Luna would join him. Sometimes Neville would show up too. Nobody else really did—not on purpose anyway.

He'd go to his classes for the day, returning to the same classroom during lunch and for supper he'd eat down in the kitchens, laughing with Dobby and the rest of the house elves. The first Potions class after the _incident_ he thought about skipping but didn't want to picture what Snape would do to him. He didn't have much to worry about though because Draco never showed up—to any of them. Care of Magical Creatures became very Dracoless as well.

What made it worse for Ron is that the less of Draco he saw, the more he actually thought of him. Something had happened between Draco and him. Something that he just couldn't turn away from and pretend like it never existed—no matter how much he wanted to.

"I think you should talk to him." Katie Bell said to him one day as she sat down beside him on the bench in the changing tent.

It was early February so the Gryffindor team was working double time to get ready for their match with Hufflepuff. Ron didn't get to spend much extra time with Neville or Luna because of this so when he felt he really needed to talk he'd talk to Katie whom he had formed a sort of bond with. She was the only other team member that would really talk to him.

"Why the hell should I?" Ron asked, adjusting his gloves.

"Because it's driving you crazy," she said simply as she pulled her shoulder length hair into a ponytail.

"Kind of hard to talk to somebody who's pretty much disappeared," he said, looking at the ground. "Besides, what I'm I supposed to say to him?"

"I'm sorry sounds like it'd be a good place to begin," she said. She fidgeted with her hair a little then pulled the elastic out, letting it fall about her face.

"But I didn't do anything," he said watching her brush her hair back and tie it back into a ponytail. "Why should I apologize?"

"Because you're the git that's punishing him for something he can't control," she said pulling out a small compact mirror to critique her appearance.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. She snapped her mirror shut and looked at him.

"What I mean is you're only angry with Draco Malfoy because he was just being Draco Malfoy. Nothing's going to change him so you better figure out if you're going to accept it or not so that you can act accordingly." He gawked at her as she stood up and twirled around a few times in front of him. "So how do I look?" she asked. He blinked.

"Why does that matter?" he asked.

She smiled coyly at him. "Because I invited a very handsome Ravenclaw to come watch the practice and I want to look my best." Ron could only shake his head and laugh at her as Angela called for everyone to make their way out to the pitch.

………………………………

At night when Ron returned to Gryffindor Tower for the night he would wordlessly walk through the common room, trying not to make eye contact with anybody. Up in the dormitory he'd spread his homework across his bed and sit and stare at piles of books and parchment for hours.

Many nights when he grew tired of such things he'd find his attention wandering toward a thin branch, no bigger than half a meter that still sat on his bed side table. It was those nights he found himself dreaming of warm kisses, comforting words and ice gray eyes glistening with tears. It was those mornings that he would wake up wondering if Draco Malfoy was crying somewhere.

…………………………………

One Saturday after a particularly hard practice Ron was carrying his stuff up the marble staircase, looking forward to falling into his bed, when he felt somebody grab a hold of his hood and start to drag him back down. Trying not to fall he turned around and was surprised to see Blaise who simply just threw him onto the floor.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Ron roared as he struggled to get up. Not far off he could hear a couple Hufflepuff girls laughing.

"We need to talk," Blaise said in his deep threatening voice.

"Like hell we do." It never really occurred to Ron the amount of pain Zabini could cause him. The darker skinned wizard was about the same height as Ron but considerably more muscular; not to mention being in Slytherin he probably knew a dark spell or two and more than likely lacked the morals that would normaly prevent a person from using them. Lucky for Ron Blaise chose to ignore his lack of respect.

"What did you say to Draco?"

"Why is that any of your business?"

"You don't want me telling you all the reasons it is my business," Blaise said grabbing the front of Ron's shirt. Ron could feel the tip of Blaise's wand press against his stomach so he kept his mouth shut. "What did you say to Draco?"

"Why?" Ron asked and tried not to flinch when he felt Blaise's wand jab his abdomen.

"You need to start going easier on him," Blaise said as he pushed Ron away. Ron just barely managed not to fall back on to the ground.

"_I _need to go easier on _him_?" Ron said in disbelief as he steadied himself.

"You need to decide whether you want to be with him or not," Blaise said. "No more of this on-off bullshit."

"Oh and I suppose you're here to tell me why I should take him back."

"I wouldn't give shit if it wasn't for the fact that your rejection has practically ruined him," Blaise said angrily. Ron felt something in his chest twist again but he refused to feel sorry.

"He'll get over it," he said as he tried to walk away. Blaise just pointed his wand back in Ron's direction. Ron froze and quickly looked around to see that the Entrance Hall had become completely empty.

"I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how pathetic he really is regardless of how tough he tries to act," Blaise said though Ron thought his voice sounded softer, even with him pointing a wand in his direction. "It's something deeper than that though." Blaise slipped his wand back into his robes.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ron asked as he watched the other boy.

"Because," he said, the hardness coming back into his voice, "Draco is like a porcelain doll. If you play with him to much he's going to break."

After he'd said that he turned and walked down the stairs leading into the dungeons—leaving Ron staring after him with his mouth hanging open. Leaving him to ponder the truth in his words.

………………………………

The Friday night before Valentines Day Ron was dragging himself up the dormitory stairs as usual after one of Angela's demonic practices. He was sore all over and dreading the all day practice that their wonderful captain had scheduled for the next day. Ron guessed he couldn't complain too much about it though as it would give him less time to feel sorry for himself.

He opened the door getting ready to throw himself under the covers when he noticed Dobby standing next to his bed. His back was facing the door and he appeared not to have heard Ron come in. Ron noticed that he was holding something.

"Dobby?" Ron said causing the elf to jump and drop whatever it was he was looking at. Looking at it on the floor Ron realized that it was the tree branch that Draco had given him for Christmas.

"Dobby is very sorry sir," Dobby said turning to Ron. "Very sorry indeed. Dobby was only admiring it sir. Dobby swears."

"It's alright Dobby," Ron said. He picked up the branch and placed it back on the table. He turned to see Dobby still staring at it. It was an odd stare, a fascinated but frightened stare.

"Dobby is everything alright?"

The little elf jumped and started shaking but still managed to nod his head. "Yes sir everything is alright. It's just," the elf took another quick look at the branch. "It's just that Dobby was wondering where it was that Wheezy got such a thing."

Ron stared at the house elf who was again staring at the branch. "Dobby have you seen this before?"

If it had been possible he could have sworn that Dobby began to shake even harder. "Y-yes Dobby has," he started. "It was d-different then but Dobby remembers it."

"Why Dobby?" Ron asked. "How was it different?"

"Dobby was cleaning the young master's room after he'd returned during the spring holiday," he said. His eyes glazed over as he remembered. "Dobby found a g-green bag and was very curious about what was inside. S-so Dobby opened it and when he took it out he saw it covered with lots of flowers."

"Flowers?" Ron asked. He found it hard to believe that Draco would just have some random flowers lying around.

Dobby nodded. "Yes flowers. Small flowers each with only five petals, all of them pink but so pale Dobby had almost thought them to be white."

Ron stared at the branch and tried to picture the flowers Dobby had just described. He was sure that they had been beautiful and kind of wished that he could have seen them.

"They sound beautiful," he said returning his gaze back toward the elf.

"Y-yes very beautiful indeed," Dobby agreed. "But the young master was very upset with Dobby for touching his things." Ron didn't need to ask how upset. He was sure he knew what Draco's punishment had been. It only fueled his anger at the other boy more.

"I'm sorry," Ron said.

"Wheezy does not need to apologize," Dobby said. "Dobby was used to it. The young master used to hit Dobby all the time."

"But there was no need for him to beat you just for the fun of it," Ron said loudly, making Dobby jump.

"N-not for the fun of it sir," Dobby said.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Ron said angrily. "You didn't deserve it."

Dobby stood there shaking for a few minutes. "B-but," he started and paused, plainly arguing with himself. "But the young master never did either," he said sadly.

Before Ron could ask him what he meant the room was filled with a loud crack as the elf disappeared, leaving Ron alone again.

……………………………

"Oh my god Ron," Katie said excitedly as she practically pounced on him. She immediately stared trying to flatten his hair—he hadn't bothered to run a comb through it when he had gotten out of bed that morning. "You can't go out there looking like this."

"Why the hell not?" he asked. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before so he was feeling very cranky.

"Because he's here," she said happily.

"That's great," he groaned. "But why do I have to get all cleaned up for _your_ boyfriend?"

She laughed at him. "Not him you twit. I'm talking about Draco."

He felt his cheeks flush and a hoard of butterflies invade his stomach as Katie dug out her hair brush and started working on his mass of tangles. He wasn't sure if Katie was telling the truth. If she was he wasn't sure if Draco watching from the stands would be a good or bad thing. The only thing he was sure of though was that he wasn't going to save any goals during the days practice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: There you go. Two chapters like I promised. I know all of you guys hate me right now but I wanted to ask you guys something.

I'm starting to work on some Draco-centered side stories for this fic (since I know all of you would love to know what he's up to) and I was wondering if there was any specific parts you'd like. So far the list of planned pieces consist of Christmas, after Ron storms off in the previous chapter, at least two background stories (little Draco), and after Harry blabs in the middle of the hallway as well as many others for parts that have yet to even be written. All thoughts and ideas are greatly welcome.


	21. Year Five: Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, lots of Angst (my poor Draco)**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 21**

"I blew it," he said as Katie landed next to him on the field. Not only had his prediction been right but Draco had disappeared from the stands about half way through.

"Don't worry," Katie said trying to reassure him. "You'll do better next time."

"No matter how many times you say that I'll never be better next time," Ron groaned.

"We'll just have to do some extra practicing," She said. "Just the two of us." Again he groaned.

It seemed like every practice would just get worse and worse. He loved Katie and was happy that she was trying to help him but he honestly didn't think anymore practice would help. He was just horrible at playing quidditch.

"I don't believe it," Angela, who was walking only a little way ahead of them, said as she came to a stop. "What the hell does he want?"

Ron and Katie stopped next to her. Walking towards them with a broom over his shoulder was Draco Malfoy. He was dressed in his quidditch gear and under his arm he carried a quaffle. Katie was practically squirming with excitement. Ron felt like he was going to throw up.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Angela said as the Slytherin came within ear shot.

Stopping a few feet in front of them he said, "Your keeper seems to be in desperate need of some help so I'm here to the rescue." He was smiling that cocky smile of his.

"I think we're fine with out you…"

"Oh nonsense Angela," Katie said as she put her arm around their captain. "You know as well as I do that Ron's keeping skills are worse than horrendous. You should be happy that somebody's willing to take him off your hands for a little while to whip him into shape."

She turned slightly so that she could shoot a wink in Ron's direction. Ron just stood back wishing that she would just shut up. He looked away, pretending to be interested in the sunset. He could practically feel the heat radiating off of Angela as she fumed.

"Fine what ever," Angela said angrily, causing Ron to snap his attention back to Draco and the girls. Pushing Katie away Angela stormed off in the direction of the tent.

Katie followed her, walking backwards she said, "Make sure the two of you play nice." With that she turned and ran the rest of the way. Ron stood there watching her go as she abandoned him. All that time he thought she was his friend. He made a mental note to look up a particularly nasty jinx to punish her with.

"Shall we get started then," Draco said. Ron shot him a glare. Draco didn't seem to be phased by it in the least though.

"What are you playing at Malfoy," Ron snapped.

"Didn't you hear what I said _Weasley_," Draco drawled. "You're terrible at this game so I'm here to teach you the proper way to play it."

"I don't think I need any lessons from a dirty Slytherin," Ron said.

"Well whether you like it or not the two of us are here together and I'm not about to let you walk away from me again," he said, his voice starting to take on a more dangerous tone. "Now get on your broom."

"Why don't you try and make me," Ron said angrily. He was not about to just sit there and take Draco's shit.

"Don't tempt me Weasel."

Ron tossed his broom to the side. He wasn't like some house elf that could be ordered around.

"Why do you have to be so bloody difficult?" Draco yelled.

"I'm not the one who's making this difficult Malfoy."

"Yes you are," Draco shouted. "Every time we start getting closer, every time you feel yourself getting comfortable you find some fucking excuse to run away."

"Malfoy you were trying to…"

"I was doing what I had to do to win," Draco cut him off. "You know it and she knows it and she's probably cursing herself for not doing it to me first."

"Cho isn't like that," Ron yelled back at him.

"How do you know that?" Draco asked. "How do you fucking know that that's not what she's thinking?"

"I just know."

"You just know do you?" Draco said with a mocking laugh. "Well I have news for you Weasley—you don'tknow a bloody thing. The world and all the fucking people in it aren't just separated into black and white. No, it's all just one big mess of gray and that's it. There's not a single soul left on this miserable planet that's as pure as you seem to think people to be." He paused, trying to catch his breath. Ron stared at him trying to hide his shock.

"You're only defending her because she's Potter's bloody girlfriend." Draco's voice seemed to be losing its momentum. "They hate you but if it came to a choice between me or them you'd still choose them." Draco was faltering. His eyes were becoming misty and his voice was starting to crack. But Ron kept watching, listening. It was like a horrible train wreck that he couldn't stop.

"I know you would and yet…" he sucked in a shaky breath, probably trying to steady himself. "You said that all of this was making you feel all screwed up. Well I say that you don't have any idea what being screwed up even begins to feel like—how much more screwed up you've made me since that damn detention."

"You were the one who kissed me you idiot," Ron yelled. He didn't like this sudden deterioration.

"You've no idea what sort of effect you have on people do you?" Draco asked.

"So you're saying that it's my fault you kissed me?"

"I don't know," Draco said weakly.

"You don't know?" Ron yelled. "How can you not know?"

"I just don't."

"You're lying." Now that the subject had been brought up Ron found that he really wanted to know even though something told him that he wouldn't like the answer. "Why did you kiss me?"

"I don't know," Draco shouted. "Curiosity maybe?"

"Tell me the truth," Ron pushed. He wanted to know. What was it that possessed Draco to uproot both their lives the way that he did?

"I don't know."

"DRACO."

"I…" he started and it seemed like a wall that was surrounding him just started crumbling. Tears escaped from his eyes and his lips trembled as he struggle to draw breath. "I…" more tears. Was this it? Was this what Blaise was talking about. Ron thought that maybe if he looked close enough he'd be able to see cracks start to mar the perfect skin of Draco's face. Ron started walking toward him, he wasn't sure why.

"I wanted to know if it could actually feel good," he finally finished. At hearing the words Ron stopped, only a couple feet away. His breath caught in his throat as the horrible meaning of those words hit him.

Draco looked stunned—like he hadn't meant to say them. As if he was as surprised as Ron was to learn the terrible truth they held. He brought his hand up to cover his mouth as though he were going to be sick as he started to fall forwards. Ron caught him, finding him to be incredibly light, and eased him to the ground.

"Draco," Ron called urgently but the blond was unresponsive. He stared wide eyed through Ron, a look of terror upon his face. He wasn't there again but this time Ron's calls weren't bringing him back.

Ron tried to stay calm as he picked up Draco and leaving their brooms behind, he ran as fast as he could back up to the castle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: O.o Yes I did just take that turn onto cliché road but I couldn't help it…if you had this plot bunny attacking you, you would have gone wherever it made you too.

Also I changed the summary again. I think I'm going to keep this one. It seems to fit better with the whole idea I'm going for.


	22. Year Five: Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, even more Angst (my poor, poor Draco)**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 22**

Ron jolted awake as he felt the hospital mattress move underneath him. He sat up in his chair and looked at the blond who was occupying the bed. Draco had merely shifted so that he was lying on his side facing Ron. Ron let out the breath that he'd been holding and rested his head on one of his hands. He brushed Draco's hair away from his face and watched him sleep.

He had immediately run to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had him lay Draco on one of the beds and as she was trying to shuffle him out the door Draco started screaming. Loud painful screams like he was being tortured as he twist and turned on the bed. Madam Pomfrey let Ron help her hold Draco still as she forced him to swallow some potion. Draco had calmed down and returned to staring at nothing, tears streaming down his face. She said that she couldn't find anything wrong with him. After a lot of arguing she let him stay with him. She stayed in her study, coming out every so often to check up on him. Then he finally closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Even in sleep though Draco looked pained. His face would twist and he'd whimper or even cry out before settling back down. Sometimes it sounded like he was talking in his sleep. It would never be anything coherent but Ron couldn't help but think that it sounded like he was talking in another language, always saying the same things over and over.

"Nee-chan…" Draco mumbled again bringing Ron out of another doze. Looking at him he noticed that a tear had escaped and began trailing down Draco's cheek. Ron wiped it away and kissed his temple. Draco didn't seem to respond though.

He stood up and stretched. He looked over at the next bed. It was empty. He pushed the screen separating it from Draco to the side and pulled the second bed over so that they sat next to each other. Ron climbed in and reached out his hand to take one of Draco's.

There were a lot of things he still didn't know, things he didn't think he could understand. Something terrible had happened to Draco. Something, Ron thought, that had left a scar so deep that it refused to heal.

As Ron felt himself drift off to sleep the things Draco said to him ran through his head, not just what he said at the pitch but everything he'd said to him since that first detention. It seemed like all of their arguments had been utterly foolish, most of them caused by his own stubbornness. As he closed his eyes he wondered how much he had hurt Draco.

Squeezing the other boys hand slightly he made a promise never to hurt him again and do everything he could to make him happy.

………………………………

When Ron woke up it was just before dawn. He wasn't quite sure what had woken him. He opened his eyes and looked at the bed next to him to see Draco sitting up, still holding Ron's hand and staring at nothing in front of him.

"Draco?" Ron whispered. Draco didn't start or flinch like Ron thought he would. He turned his head and looked at Ron but still had that strange look like he wasn't really there. He was there though. Ron knew it.

"Ron?"

Ron sat up. "Yeah it's me."

Draco smiled slightly. A weird smile. "You said my name."

"Yeah," Ron tried to force a laugh. Draco was starting to sound almost like Luna. "Do you feel alright?"

"I don't know," he said looking confused. "I feel kind of weird—hot."

"Oh," Ron said. "Well do you want me to open a window?"

"No," Draco said shaking his head though Ron noticed that he was pulling at his shirt collar.

"Okay then do you want something to drink instead?" Ron asked but again Draco shook his head. He pulled his hand free from Ron's and undid his shirt buttons, exposing his sweat covered chest. Ron tried to focus his eyes some place else.

"W-why don't I go get Madam Pomfrey?" Ron said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He heard the beds rattle as Draco moved across the two and clutched at the back of Ron's shirt.

"No," Draco cried. Ron felt like his heart skipped a beat as he heard Draco's panicked voice. Through his shirt he could feel Draco's tears seeping through the fabric. Ron swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to stop the burning in his own eyes as he tried to dislodge himself from Draco's grasp and turn around to look at him.

As soon as he turned though Draco was kissing him, a wild desperate kind of kiss that tasted like tears. Ron didn't kiss back. Instead he grabbed both of Draco's shoulders and gently pushed him away, holding him at arms length.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ron asked.

"What does it look like?" Draco said in a low voice. He grabbed the front of Ron's shirt and pulled him back with incredible strength, smashing their lips back together into a rough kiss, rougher than any Ron could remember.

"Draco stop," Ron mumbled but Draco's only response was a strong nip on his bottom lip. Ron tasted blood as Draco forced his tongue passed Ron's teeth. Ron tried to push him off but Draco grabbed his wrists and pushed him down onto the bed. Holding Ron's hands down above his head Draco positioned one of his knees between his legs. Draco broke away and moved down to Ron's neck, giving him some much need air.

"Draco stop," Ron gasped. "You don't want to do this."

"Yes I do," Draco murmured against Ron's skin. Ron cried out as he felt teethe sink into the nape of his neck.

"Alright maybe you do," he said trying to keep the panic from his voice. "B-but don't you think that this isn't really the time or the place for this?"

"Who cares?" Another bite.

"Draco," Ron said through gritted teethe. "You're not well."

"Is that your bloody excuse this time?" Draco yelled, lifting his head and looking Ron in the eyes. "I'm not well? I'm not in the right of mind to know what I'm doing?"

"Draco…"

"Don't Draco me," he said squeezing Ron's wrists and pressing his knee into his groin even harder causing Ron to cry out. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"You can't want this," Ron said weakly. This Draco was real. Looking in his eyes he could see it but he didn't understand where all of this was coming from.

"And why not?" he said. "How do you know this isn't what I wanted from the very beginning?"

"Because then you would've taken it from the very beginning." Ron's voice had lowered to nearly a whisper. He closed his eyes. He couldn't stand to see Draco looking at him like that.

"I tried but you wouldn't cooperate remember?"

"I'm sure you could've forced me if you really wanted to." He could feel Draco's grip loosen slightly. Draco didn't say anything for a while. The silence between them stretched until Ron though he would go insane.

"I hate you." Draco's voice sounded strained. Ron felt a tear land on his cheek and opened his eyes. "I fucking hate you," Draco repeated. "You're just like everybody else. All you care about is yourself." Draco let out a sputtered sob as more tears tumbled off his cheeks. Ron didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. "Nobody ever gives a shit about what I fucking want."

"What do you want?" Draco's eyes widened a little bit. Ron was surprised to. He'd asked the question without thinking. It felt odd actually. After all, wasn't Draco one of the most spoiled people he'd ever met. He'd always just assumed that Draco always got everything he'd wanted—or maybe he got everything everyone else only perceived him to want. Had he really ever been asked the question directly like that? Draco's confused expression told Ron no—he hadn't.

"I don't..."Draco said softly. His grip on Ron's arms disappeared as he half fell, half threw himself onto Ron's chest.

"I don't really know," he said, tears soaking through Ron's shirt again. He didn't cry out though Ron was sure he wanted to.

He stayed there like that, clutching to the front of Ron's shirt, burying his face into his chest. Ron wrapped his arms around him, holding onto him, afraid that if he let go somehow the other would disappear. The two of them stayed like that for the rest of the morning.

Neither one of them fell asleep. Ron stared at the ceiling, watching the dim morning light fill the room, listening to the pitter patter of the rain as the clouds finally opened up.

They heard noises from another part of the hospital near the back and knew that Madam Pomfrey had woken up. Draco very reluctantly slid off Ron and moved back over to his own bed while Ron moved the second bed back to its own place, making sure to replace the screen separator as well.

"Awake already are you?" she said approaching Draco's bed as Ron sat back down on the stool. She proceeded to poke and prod him mumbling a spell once and a while.

"Well I can't see anything wrong with you," she said looking at Draco. "How do you feel?"

"Better," Draco said. "I think I'm good enough to go now."

She looked at him skeptically for a second before looking at Ron. "Are you going to be with him for the day?"

Ron was sort of taken back by the question and so ended up only able to gape at her, trying to register the question.

"Yes I'm going to be with him for the rest of the day," Draco injected, sounding very annoyed and shooting a hard look in Ron's direction.

Snapping out of it Ron agreed. "Yeah I'll keep an eye on him today."

"Good," she said. "Come back if you feel…" she paused, looking at Draco for the words and then looked back at Ron. "If you feel he needs to. I'd rather him not have another episode like last night."

They both agreed and she left to return to what ever work she had in the back. The two of them collected their stuff and left. They walked down the hall in silence. Ron didn't now what to say.

"I have work to catch up on," Draco said finally. "So we should go to the library."

"Okay," Ron said. It wasn't how he would have normally spent his Sunday but he didn't dare argue with Draco. He also had to admit that he'd fallen very behind in his studies—particularly history of magic and potions, the second which he was sure Draco could help him with.

"Ron where are our brooms?" Draco asked stopping in front of a window to look out at the now pouring rain.

Ron flushed. "They're still on the pitch," he said slowly, watching Draco for his reaction, readying himself for a thrashing.

"Oh," Draco said.

"Oh?" Ron asked. "That's it? You're not angry that I just left your broom—that probably cost your dad a small fortune by the way—out in the mud."

"No I'm not angry," Draco said with a sigh. "And I don't care. We can go get them later. A little rain's not going to hurt them."

"Oh okay," Ron said feeling relieved. "I've got to drop off my gear then and get my books and stuff. Meet you in the Great Hall?" Ron looked at his watch. It was still early enough for breakfast.

"I'm not very hungry," Draco said. "Just meet me in the library."

"Okay," Ron said looking at Draco worriedly. Draco smiled lightly before turning to head down stairs for his House common room. Ron watched him go until he turned out of sight.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Please excuse Madam Pomfrey's OOCness for this chapter. I found myself trapped and needed to get our boys out of that Hospital wing (there's no way she'd normally let Draco out after he had an episode like that O.o)

Also it's not Angela, it's Angelina!!! How could you guys let me get away with that!!!!!!!!!! It's to late now though and I don't really feel like going back and changing it so she shall be known as Angela for the rest of my story…or until the end of this year and I need not mention her name anymore.

Also thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews. As I type this Sakura has 101 of them. That's officially the most I've ever had for one story.


	23. Year Five: Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 23**

"Remind me again why I agreed to do this?" Draco asked as he, Ron, Luna and Neville stood in the doorway leading out to the court yard, watching as the rain kept pouring down in buckets.

"Don't look at me," Neville said. "I didn't agree to anything."

"Because you didn't want to share the same air with Harry," Ron answered in his own dismal tone.

They had been working in the library, Draco and Ron had run into Luna and Neville there, when Harry and Hermione showed up. It didn't take very long before Draco and Harry were spewing insults at each other. Ron agreed to Luna's idea only for the sake of his sanity.

The idea was to take a walk—in the rain. Luna of course was standing there looking the happiest Ron had ever seen her—not only did she have her usual dreamy look but a huge smile on her face as well. Out of nowhere she reached past Ron and lightly hit Draco on the shoulder.

"Tag you're it," she said and trotted into the rain leaving a confused looking Draco standing in the door holding his shoulder.

"Are you mad?" He asked. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Ronald's become quite an influence on you," she said standing a few feet in front of them. "And I tagged you. You're supposed to tag me now...or you can tag Ron or Neville if you want to."

"Hold on," Neville said. "I'm not playing."

"What are you taking about?" Draco asked, looking at her as though she had suddenly sprouted two more heads. Unable to hold it in any longer Ron started to laugh. "What are you laughing at?"

"Haven't you ever played tag before?" Ron asked.

"No." Ron laughed even harder. "Well are you going to tell me what it is or are you just going to stand there and laugh like a hyena for the rest of the afternoon?"

So with the help of Luna who returned to the shelter of the doorway dripping wet, they told him the basic rules. After they were done he just gaped at her.

"A kid's game?"

"Yes," she replied.

"You want me to run around and take part in this childish game?"

"It will be great fun," she continued.

"Ron you can't agree with this?" Ron was silent, trying to keep from laughing again.

He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder smiled and said, "You're it."

He grabbed Luna's hand and together the two of them ran out into the courtyard. Ron was soaked within seconds, the cool water running over his face felt great. He turned to see Draco still standing in the doorway with Neville.

"The both of you have gone completely daft," he said, crossing his arms.

"Fine suit yourself," Ron called to him as he proceeded to tag Luna and dash away from her.

She chased after him and after many near hits and lots of running back and forth, finally managed to tag him back. He gave her a bit of a head start but still managed to get her pretty quickly. She didn't seem to mind though as she went after him again with just as much enthusiasm as the first time. Ron had to admit that even though it _was_ a kid's game it was still really fun and that he really liked this side of Luna. She was laughing—not like a maniac like she had when he first met her on the train but laughing like a normal person.

He dared a quick glance toward the door where Draco and Neville still stood. Neville was looking at them in shock; Draco was biting his lower lip looking undecided. Ron felt the wind being knocked out of him as Luna tackled him and the two of them fell to the ground landing in a puddle of mud.

Once the two of them stopped laughing so hard and they were finally able to get up Ron pulled himself into a sitting position. His robes and hair were now filthy but he found that he didn't care. Luna was sitting next to him with half her face covered with muddy water but she too was still smiling.

"I was right about you two." Surprised, Ron looked up to see Draco holding out his hands. "You are crazy."

"Well that's good," Luna said. "Who wishes to be normal anyway?"

She and Ron each grabbed one of Draco's hands and both throwing a mischievous smirk at the other pulled him down to the ground with them, making sure to roll him in the mud before he could get his bearings.

"What the hell," he roared as he got himself up, looking dirty and angry. The combination was too much and so Ron and Luna were set off into another fit of laughter. "That's not funny."

"Sorry," Ron said trying to catch his breath. He stood up and leaning on Draco he brought his lips close to Draco's ear. "Tag…you're it."

…………………………

"I can't believe you two," Neville said as Ron finished cleaning his broom and put it away. "You guys actually had Draco Malfoy running around in the rain playing tag."

"It was fun," Ron said climbing onto his bed. "You should have joined in."

"I think I was too stunned to move," he said. Ron snorted but tried not to laugh. "I still have that Potions essay to finish too," he groaned.

"Sorry mate but you could've gone back to the library," Ron said taking out his own unfinished work. "I'm sure Hermione would've been able to help you."

"Yeah but Harry was there too," Neville said. He looked at his half written essay dismally.

"Hey Neville?" Ron called out. Neville looked up from his parchment. "What happened between you and Harry?"

Neville looked back down at his homework. He didn't say anything for a few minutes and Ron almost thought that he didn't want to talk about it. He opened up his potions book and started writing.

"It was the night he told everyone about you and Draco," Neville said suddenly. Ron looked up and met Neville's eyes. "I stood up for you…at first I thought that he wasn't telling the truth but then after you came into the common room later that night….It was pretty obvious that you were hurt by it. I didn't think it was right for Harry to tell every one like that. After all if you had wanted people to know…" he trailed off and looked at the wall across the room. "It was the first time I really ever felt like I hated him. Some of the things he was saying." Ron almost wanted to ask what sort of things but kept quiet. He didn't think he wanted to know though he did feel sort of grateful that Neville stood up for him.

"Hermione stood up for you too," he said finally. He looked back at Ron. "She was really hurt that you didn't tell them about it and well…" again he trailed off.

"Well?" Ron said trying to get him to finish.

"Well," he started again. "I think she might have liked you a bit. Ginny said she'd been crying for days during the Christmas break after she heard about the way you were dressed when you got to the headmasters." Ron groaned, starting to feel sick. He couldn't believe that someone actually told Hermione the state of his appearance that night. He couldn't believe that even Neville knew. It made him worry a bit about who else might have known.

"I thought you liked Hermione too," Neville said suddenly. Ron looked back at him. "Well it's just the way you were acting when you saw her with Krum at the Yule Ball last year. Seemed to me like you were jealous."

"I was," Ron admitted. "And I guess that yeah I kind of liked Hermione too but…" he trailed. He was never sure about his relationship with Hermione. She had always been his best friend but he really couldn't ever remember thinking of her as a girlfriend. Thinking about it now he thought that his jealousy of her relationship with Krum was a bit childish.

"But?" Neville was obviously curious now.

Ron sighed. "It wasn't much of anything really," he said. "I mean if I had actually been in _love_ with her or something like, that I wouldn't have even let things between me and Draco go so far….right?" Neville didn't answer though.

"And Draco," he said awkwardly. "Do you…you know…love _him_?"

Ron opened his mouth about to say something. What he did not know but he kind of wished he did since first impulse is usually right with questions like that. He thought about all the things that had happened between him and Draco, how they started, the time right before Christmas, their arguments. He'd seen so many different sides to Draco but he still wasn't sure if he knew who Draco Malfoy really was. Then there was the night before he thought about. Draco's confession, what it could mean. Draco hadn't mentioned it since and Ron didn't really want to bring it up but it left a hole in his understanding of the other boy.

He thought too of how he felt when he was around Draco. It was always different and changed so often it was hard to tell. The week before the Slytherin and Ravenclaw quidditch match he'd have to say he became rather comfortable with him but other times he hated him. He was almost always thinking about him though, always wanting to be near him. Was that love? Now that Ron had thought about it he really didn't even know what love was supposed to feel like.

"Ron?" Neville asked dragging him back from his thoughts. Ron looked at him. "Well?"

"I…" Ron hesitated and then sighed and shook his head. "I don't know." He turned back to his potions essay. He and Neville worked in silence for the rest of the night though Ron found it incredibly difficult to concentrate. By the time he crawled under the covers his parchment was still blank and he hadn't been able to come up with a better answer to Neville's question.

He did know one thing though—not matter how much of a git Draco could be he wasn't going to leave him or do anything to cause him anymore pain. He never wanted to come face to face with the Draco he saw last night ever again. He wasn't sure if that was love but it was the best he could give for the time being.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Cookies to _junabug_ for recognizing Draco's mumblings as Japanese. Also I'm very sorry for the icky Hermione conversation. Neville insisted upon it I swear.


	24. Year Five: Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 24**

The week following their game of tag continued normally. Monday Ron had another terrible practice though he did manage to save some goals. Classes continued as usual with Draco returning to potions and care of magical creatures, much to Harry's dismay. Dumbledore's army met at least once to Ron's knowledge though he still insisted on not returning to them, Luna and Neville did and tried to fill him in as best they could.

Rumors started to spread as well. Not only were Ron and Draco back together but Harry and Cho were apparently having problems. This news brought great joy to Draco. It was all Ron could do to keep the blond from hunting down Harry for the soul purpose of insulting him, though Ron had to admit that secretly he found it very amusing.

Also since Ron and Neville's conversation Ron was finding it difficult to look Hermione in the eye which unfortunately did not escape Draco's attention. While constantly dodging questions Ron knew that he had to at least try to get Hermione by herself so that he could talk to her. He'd lost all hope of patching things with Harry but he still wanted to try and save his and her friendship. She was never anywhere without Harry though and that made it neigh impossible to have any sort of civil conversation with anybody within the immediate area.

The Saturday after Valentines Day was the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match. Ron was terrible and even though Ginny had managed to catch the snitch the Gryffindor team still lost. About the only team member that didn't throw threatening glares at Ron inside the changing tent was Katie.

"Don't worry Ron," she said as they made their way back up to the school for dinner. "You'll do better next time." But he knew that he never would.

Instead of eating his dinner in the kitchen he'd gone to grabbing a plateful of food and bringing it out to the Entrance Hall where he, Draco, Luna and Neville would all sit and have a sort of picnic—it was of course Luna's idea though Ron found that he really enjoyed it.

It was only a week but Ron could see a change in Draco. He laughed now. Not a pompous laugh or a cocky snicker but genuine laughter. He smiled more too and when he smiled in his direction Ron could almost feel himself melting.

Another thing that surprised Ron was the bond Draco seemed to form with Luna. A lot of times, especially toward the end of that first week, Ron and Neville would join the two of them in the Entrance Hall while they were laughing at some form of joke or in the middle of an intense discussion. Once or twice Draco had also pulled Ron aside suddenly only to kiss him and use the excuse that he was protecting him from the Nargles.

Until the day that the March addition of the Quibbler was released that is. Using the sharp blade of reality it was able to cut a deep rift in their new happy life style.

…………………………

"Draco," Ron called after him as he finally caught up. "Hey wait up."

Draco didn't slow though. He kept walking staying near the edge of the lake as he did.

"Hey I _said_ wait up," Ron said as he grabbed Draco's arm and forced him to stop. "What the hell was all that for?"

"Why do you even have to ask that question?" Draco said. Ron noticed that his voice cracked just a bit. Draco had obviously been crying.

"It's not like its Luna's fault," Ron tried but Draco rounded on him.

"She's the one who set up the stupid interview," he said. There weren't any tears but Draco's eyes were defiantly red.

"No Hermione did," Ron started. "Luna had nothing…"

"It's her father's goddamn magazine," Draco yelled cutting him off.

"Exactly," Ron said calmly. "It's her father's magazine…not Luna's."

Draco didn't say anything else. He just stood there looking down, looking miserable. Ron knew that Draco knew that Ron was right. Ron pulled him into a hug.

"Why does it matter what the Quibbler says about your dad anyway?" Ron asked.

"It doesn't," Draco said into his shoulder.

"So you made Luna cry for nothing?" It had actually shock him. Never had he seen Luna cry or even so much as look sad about something. It was only more proof of how close she and Draco had grown.

"That's…" he stared. Sighing he continued. "That's not what I was saying."

"But it was implied," Ron said silently. Draco didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"It's true you know," he said. "My father really is a death eater."

Ron sighed. "I know."

"You don't care?"

"Should I?"

Again Draco didn't say anything. Ron pulled him away far enough so that he could look him in the eyes.

"You're not your father anymore than Luna is hers," Ron said. "Last time I checked I was in love with someone named Draco Malfoy _not_ an old prat named Lucius."

He'd said it without meaning to but knew immediately that he'd never regret it. Draco looked surprised but smiled as Ron lowered his lips to kiss him. As they met Ron was filled with such an intense happiness and desire to stay like that with Draco forever. He thought briefly that that must have been what love felt like.

Life went on normally after that—or as normally as it could. Draco and Luna's bond had obviously been ruptured and though Draco did manage to apologize conversations between the two of them became very strained. Dinner started to be sat through in silence and soon the four of them had decided to resume dinning in the Great Hall with the rest of the school—among their own houses as the article had created a lot of tension between the Slytherins and the rest of the student body. Ron had to admit that it did sort of depress him.

Ron and Draco had no doubt grown closer after Ron's confession. However, with all of their school work and the Slytherin team upping their practices for their next match while Angela felt the need to continue the Gryffindor's intense training as well, the two of them found it increasingly difficult to find any alone time together. Most of the only time they were able to spend alone was while Neville and Luna were at a DA meeting. Ron had long since run out of excuses as to why they couldn't just slip into the Room of Requirement. This of course caused a lot of arguments between them though by the following day the both of them would be over it and things would continue normally.

So life went on like that for the next month until one night at the end of March Ron noticed something different about the branch Draco had given him for Christmas. It was after he and Neville had returned to the dormitory after an evening filled with homework in the Great Hall. Ron was just about to climb into bed when he glanced at the branch still sitting on his bedside table and noticed that several buds had started appearing on it, almost like it was getting ready to bloom.

"So it's started budding has it?" Draco asked when Ron approached him about it the next day.

"Yeah," Ron said. "But Draco how is it even possible?"

Draco laughed at him. "What sort of wizard are you?" Draco asked. "It's been enchanted. It's still magically connected to the tree that it was taken from. So when the tree blooms so does the branch."

"Oh," Ron said realizing how much sense it actually made. He wanted to hit himself upside the head for not thinking of it himself. "So where did you get it from?"

"When it blooms could you bring it out for me to look at?" Draco asked, ignoring Ron's question completely.

"Sure," Ron said. "But Draco…?"

"Thanks," Draco said, cutting Ron off before giving him a quick kiss and heading in the direction of his next lesson.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: YES!! The "I love you" chapter. Sorry for the fast-forward sort of chapter but this is getting really long and I'm feeling I should start to wrap up year five. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll have this first part done by Christmas and then I can focus a little on my Draco stories I keep promising you guys before moving into year six…that's the plan anyway.


	25. Year Five: Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst, Asshole Harry**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 25**

"Looks to me like you've got cherry blossoms," Neville said handing back the branch that was now covered in small pale pink flowers. Ron took it back carefully. Already some of the petals had managed to come loose and were now sitting atop his comforter.

"Cherry blossoms?" Ron asked looking them over. "How can you tell?"

"Well it's not like they're rare," Neville said. "Though I have to admit it's the first time I've seen any that look like that. Usually they're a darker pink and have more petals…at least the ones that gran has in her garden do anyway." He stared at the branch a bit more. "These are a little to small to be apple plus they don't have any leaves so my best guess would have to be cherry blossoms."

Ron stared at him for a few seconds. "You know way too much about plants," he said smiling and shaking his head. "So what do you suppose Draco gave me cherry blossoms for?"

"Suppose he just wanted to," Neville said with a shrug.

"No I mean why cherry blossoms?" Ron asked.

"To say he loves you," Neville said shyly. "That what they usually symbolize."

Ron couldn't stop himself from blushing. If that were true then he really needed to beat himself for the way he acted after they had gotten back from the holidays. Something else started to nag at him though.

"But why did he give me these?" Ron asked.

"Pardon?"

"Dobby told me that he's seen this same branch before," Ron said. "That means that Draco's had this since before our second year."

"Wonder where he got it from?" Neville asked.

"Don't know," Ron sighed. "Draco wouldn't answer me when I asked him."

"Well you better show them to him soon," Neville said. "They don't usually last very long. Few days tops." After that he got up and walked over to his trunk to get ready for bed.

"Neville?" Ron called after him. Neville turned around to look at him. "Do you know if you guys are going to have a DA meeting tomorrow?"

Neville looked thoughtful for a second before he shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "Why?"

Ron put the blossoms back on the table and crawled under the covers. "Just wondering," he answered as he lay down to go to sleep.

…………………………

At breakfast time the next day he pulled Draco off to the side, out of ear shot from everybody.

"It bloomed yesterday," he said in the blond's ear.

"Well then where is it?" Draco asked pulling away and looking toward Ron's bag.

"It's still up in my room," Ron said and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Are you going to be busy tonight?"

"Just the same mountain of homework that we usually have," he said. "Why?"

Ron felt his cheeks start to burn and his mouth turn dry as he tried to think of an answer. "Well…I…" he stumbled over the words and felt the heat move to his ears as well. Draco seemed to catch on though as he raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth slightly in astonishment.

"Oh," he said and looked around as if he was checking to make sure that no one had over heard. Ron couldn't help but notice that his cheeks looked a little flushed as well.

As Draco turned back toward him Ron was overcome by such an intense desire that he couldn't stop himself from lowering his head to press his lips against Draco's. It was light at first, taking Draco by surprise, but soon he felt Draco wrap his arms around him and press their bodies even closer, slipping his tongue passed Ron's lips and running his fingers through his hair.

"Must you two start so early in the morning?" Ron heard the familiar golden boy's voice say from behind. "You're going to ruin everybody's appetite." He felt Draco's lips curl into a smile before he pulled away.

"Don't be so jealous Potter," Draco said as he placed an arm around Ron's waist. "There's plenty to go around. Maybe if you ask him nicely Weasley'd be willing to share."

Ron couldn't remember Harry's face ever turning so red before—almost purple really. Ron couldn't help but laugh as he tried to think of something witty to add in. Until Harry decided to do something unexpected that is.

He reached into his robes for what Ron could only guess was his wand. Pulling out his own wand that he kept tucked away in his sleeve—a habit he picked up from Draco—he pointed it at Harry and before the other boy could even mutter his hex yelled, "Expelliarmus."

Harry's wand flew out of his hand and he was jerked back slightly as though he'd been stuck. He looked at Ron with a shocked expression like he was surprised that Ron was able to disarm him. Ron stared back at him equally shocked that he'd actually done it. The entire Entrance Hall had gone completely silent and all of the other students stopped moving, the only movement coming from a dark form coming out of the stairwell leading down into the dungeons.

"What's going on here?" Professor Snape said making his way towards the scene and shooting a nasty glare first at Harry and then at Ron. "Causing trouble as usual are we Potter?"

"He's the one that started it," Harry said motion toward Draco who was standing next to Ron looking rather smug.

Snape looked between Harry and Draco and then to Ron taking in the scene. "If Mr. Malfoy was the one who started it then why is it that Mr. Weasley's the only one with a wand in his hand and yours is sitting on the floor several feet behind you?" Snape said in his usual condescending tone though Ron could see the corner of his mouth twist ever so slightly. Harry didn't say anything so Snape turned to Ron.

"He was the one who was about to curse Draco," he said waving his wand toward Harry who shot him such a sharp look Ron could almost literally feel it pierce through him.

"Wand away," Snape told him which he immediately obeyed, slipping it back in his sleeve as the Professor turned to Harry. "Is this true Potter?" Again Harry didn't say anything. Ron knew that he didn't want to admit to Snape that it was his fault or what Draco was teasing him about—not with half the school watching anyway.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor," Snape said. There was a loud groan throughout the hall released from all the Gryffindors.

"What?" Harry asked. "That's not fair. Malfoy…"

"Be happy that it was another Gryffindor that put you in your place," Snape said cutting him off. "Otherwise I'd be more than happy to take double that." With that Snape walked away to make his way to the Great hall.

Slowly the rest of the students returned to whatever activities they had been doing. Harry stood their fuming; Ron could almost see the steam rising out of his ears. Draco on the other hand was beside himself with laughter. After he was able to compose himself he pulled away from Ron's side. Walking passed Harry Draco brushed up against him and leaned close to say something to him. Ron couldn't hear what he was saying but was surprised that Harry didn't move or say anything in return. He just stood there glaring at Ron as Draco walked away and headed in the direction of the dinning hall.

Ron began moving. He passed Harry who said something along the lines of "just another Malfoy bodyguard now." Ron didn't say anything back though—he didn't think it was worth it. As he walked through the door and stared for the Gryffindor table he overheard somebody say, "The sidekick's fighting back." He turned, trying to see who had said but gave up right away. It could have been anybody. He found an empty spot next to Neville and sat down.

"What are you so happy about?" Neville asked.

"Nothing," Ron replied as he filled his plate. He turned in his seat to look at the Slytherin table. Catching his eye Draco flashed him a smile which Ron happily returned.

He may have been known as another Malfoy bodyguard but at least now he wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived's sidekick nor was he part of the Golden Trio. He was also very happy to learn that the realization didn't hurt nearly as much as he thought it would.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Now you know what the branch is…and I'm sure I don't have to tell you what this chapter is leading up to either


	26. Year Five: Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Sex, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 26**

As Ron climbed out of the portrait hole he saw Draco standing across from him casually leaning against the wall—like he belonged there. The Fat Lady's portrait closed behind him and Draco pushed himself up and away from the wall and strode across the corridor to him.

"Ready?" he asked and Ron couldn't help but notice Draco's eyes wandering over his body.

"Yeah," Ron said nervously. He promised himself that he wouldn't freak out but that still didn't stop his stomach from twisting in apprehension. He started to hold out the green velvet bag that he had stored the cherry blossom branch back inside but Draco grabbed his wrist and pushed it back down.

"Don't worry about that right now," Draco said as he pressed closer to Ron and chastely placed a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. Ron heard the Fat Lady clear her throat as if to remind them that they had an audience. Draco ignored her though—or perhaps did it just to spite her—as he brought Ron's lips into a full kiss. Nothing very long, just a short kiss lasting only a second before he took Ron's free hand in his and the two of them started down the hall, Draco in the lead. Ron noticed that Draco's palm felt almost as sweaty as his did. For some reason he felt this ease his anxiety a bit.

Neither one of them said much of anything. Ron was trying to think of something other than where they were going, what they were getting ready to do. Every time that room with its big bed entered his mind his stomach would give a sort of lurch that would leave him feeling like he was going to throw up and Ron had no idea how to interpret this feeling.

They turned a corner and without stopping passed by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. As they did Ron felt Draco tighten his grip just a bit. Ron smiled and gave another little squeeze of encouragement as they reached the end of the hall and turned to pass the tapestry again.

As they turned to pass for the third time Ron felt the clenching in his stomach ease until all he felt was the flutter of butterflies. As the two of them turned to see the door Ron felt a surge of anticipation rather than apprehension as he felt his body start to heat up. Ron's hand reached the door handle first, his fingers lightly brushing against Draco's in the process. Draco's hand hovered for a bit but rested on top of Ron's hand as he began to turn the knob, causing little sparks to fly up Ron's arm.

The door swung open and the two of them stepped in. Almost immediately Ron's attention was pulled toward the large bed on the other side of the room. He tore his gaze away to focus it instead on Draco who appeared to be doing the same thing. Their eyes met and Ron felt himself move forward until his and Draco's lips met for another kiss.

It was gentle. Dropping the bag that held the branch Ron wrapped his arms around Draco's small frame running his hands trough his hair and up and down his back, moving slowly. Ron wanted to take his time with this. He could feel Draco's uneasiness from his hesitation and the way he awkwardly moved his hands up and down Ron's chest and sides. Ron smiled. He couldn't help but to think of how ironic it was. Draco had after all been the fuel for their relationship since the very beginning.

Ron broke the kiss so that he could look in Draco's eyes. He knew that Draco had wanted this since the night in the prefects' bathroom but he still wanted to make sure. Even in his eyes Ron could see Draco's nervousness but he could also see how serious he was about doing this. No words needed to be said to convey it. Ron breathed a sigh as Draco pushed himself up to kiss Ron again, this time lightly biting at his lower lip as he started working on unbuttoning Ron's robes.

Ron broke the kiss as he let the material slid off his shoulders and land on the floor. He pulled off his tie himself, feeling to impatient to wait for Draco's trembling fingers to do so and bent back down to devour the blonds lips, slipping his tongue into his mouth. He began to move the two of them in the direction of the bed, Draco followed obediently as he forced his hands under Ron's shirt, pinching at his nipples. Tugging on Draco's lip Ron moved to his ear, licking and nipping at the sensitive lobe.

They reached the bed and Ron eased Draco onto it, climbing up and kneeling over him as he moved his lips down Draco's neck, running his hand down past his navel. Draco let out a moan as Ron took his lips in another kiss, moving his own hand down on top of Ron's as he spread his legs wider. Through the layers of clothing Ron could feel Draco growing harder.

Pulling his hand back he started undoing the buttons on Draco's robes, his fingers feeling a new sense of urgency as Draco's hand stayed where it was and he began to massage himself. Ron pushed his robes open and quickly disposed of the tie. He placed kisses down Draco's neck and his chest as he undid the buttons of his shirt, running his tongue over one of his nipples. Draco's breath hitched and his back arched as Ron's lips reached his stomach. He trailed a hand over Draco's chest as he reached the waistline of his pants.

He placed a kiss right there, his bottom lip pressed onto the edge of the fabric his top against the skin just below the bellybutton. He slipped his tongue under the waistline as he shot a glance up at Draco's face. Their eyes met for a second and Ron took the fabric between his teeth and gave it a little tug. Draco groaned and rolled his head back as he moved his hands to unbutton the pants himself. Ron grabbed his hands to stop him though. This caused Draco to moan in annoyance.

"Getting a bit impatient up here are we?" Ron asked as he pulled himself back up, pressing his lips against Draco's.

"When you do things like that," Draco said and then let out a strangled cry as Ron slipped his hand passed his waistline and grabbed hold of him. Ron pushed his pants down to his thighs and started kissing Draco's neck again, nipping at his adams apple as he began to stroke him.

"Oh god," he heard Draco moan into the back of one of his hands while the other clutched at Ron's shoulder.

"Sensitive?" Ron teased smiling against Draco's neck.

"Only–nng-because you've–ah-been neglecting me," Draco managed to say as Ron continued pumping him.

"You can consider it pay back for all the torment you put me through," Ron said and kissed Draco's chin since he was breathing much to hard for Ron to kiss him on the lips.

Soon Draco was breathing in short gasps and was holding Ron's shoulders so tight that he was sure they were going to leave marks. He didn't care about that though as he moved his hand faster, his own breath picking up as he felt his own erection get harder and harder with every noise Draco made. Ron's body began screaming at him to get on with it but he was just too entranced by Draco's wreathing body beneath him. He soon found it hard to concentrate on much else other than what his hands were doing, settling his forehead against Draco's and trying his best to keep remembering to breath.

Draco drew in a sharp breath and Ron felt his nails dig deeper into his shoulders. Ron felt the slickness cover his fingers as Draco let out a shaky breath and loosened his grip on him. Ron brought his hand up so he could look at it, rubbing it between his fingers and thumb.

Draco sat up and grabbed Ron wrist with one hand as he pulled his pants off the rest of the way with the other. He started kissing Ron as he moved his hand down and pressed his fingers against his opening. Ron's brain froze as he realized what Draco was implying he do.

"Are you sure," he asked against Draco's lips. He'd never thought Draco would agree to be this submissive.

"Don't think about it," Draco said quickly. "Your brain has a very nasty habit of confusing even the simplest things."

Ron didn't have anything to say to that since it was the truth. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he slowly started to push his finger in. Draco sucked in a breath that made Ron hesitate, afraid that he was hurting him but Draco pushed against him, forcing his finger in deeper. Draco was clutching at his shirt again. After a minute or so He felt Draco's muscles loosen a bit and he was able to slide his finger all the way in. Ron then pushed in a second finger, this one going in a little easier, and paused, not sure what he should do next.

Again Draco started rocking against his hand and so Ron started sliding his fingers in and out. It felt rough; like it should hurt but every time he'd say something Draco would tell him he was fine, even though Ron could see tears start to collect at the corners of his eyes. After several minutes of this Draco reached to undo the button and zipper on Ron's pants, pushing them down just enough to pull him out. Ron pulled his fingers out and positioned himself above Draco, pressing against him.

Draco reached up to place his hands on Ron's shoulders, almost as if to brace himself, and looked up at him. He eyes were filled with such seriousness that any protests or concerns were pushed from Ron's mind. He leaned down and took Draco's lips into a kiss as he started to push himself inside. Both of their breaths hitched as Ron felt Draco's muscles tighten around him. Ron paused for a minute, trying to steady himself as he felt the muscles in his arms threaten to give out, and when he felt Draco loosen up again pushed himself until he was all the way in. Tear were sliding down Draco's cheeks now as he clung to Ron's shirt.

Before Ron could even say anything though Draco said, "I'm fine…I'm okay…"

Ron waited a bit until Draco's breath calmed a bit, kissing his cheeks as tears continued to stream down. He wasn't sure if he liked it anymore. He didn't like the idea of causing Draco any kind of pain—no matter how good it felt for him.

Draco started kissing him and pushing up against him. Ron took this as the signal that he was ready to continue and so placing a hand under Draco's lower back began to pull out. He only retracted about an inch or so before he pushed back in, waited a second or two and then did it again, pulling out just a bit more. He went slow, glad that Draco didn't seem to be in to much discomfort and moved to start kissing his neck and he tried picking up speed. Draco wasn't crying anymore—much to Ron's relief—as he wrapped his arms around Ron's neck and his legs around Ron's torso as he raise his hips to meet Ron's thrusts. Ron could feel Draco's hardening erection bumping against his stomach so he reached down to start pumping it in tune with his thrusts.

All Ron could hear was his own ragged breathing echoing in his ears as he pushed faster and faster. He felt the same pressure from before building up and felt his throat start tightening as he struggled to keep breathing. He could feel the muscles in his entire body tiring as he pushed himself to keep going, pulling his hand away from Draco so he could support himself on his arms, clutching at the bed linen.

His breath caught in his throat as he felt an explosion of pleasure and electric shocks run through his body. White sparks flew across his vision and then was gone as the sensation rushed through and out of his body so that he was left with a sort of calm numb feeling. Taking in a shaky breath he pulled out of Draco and opened his eyes to see Draco staring into them through his own half lidded ones, breathing just as heavily but smiling. Ron smiled back and leaned down and took him into a long kiss.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: There they finally did it…it sucks, I know. I'm sorry.


	27. Year Five: Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 27**

"A what?" Ron asked as he finished unwrapping the flowery branch from the piece of cloth he had used to protect it while in the bag.

Draco laughed at him. "I said it's called a Sakura."

"Oh," Ron said as he threw the fabric onto the floor next to the couch on which they were sitting. "Me and Neville thought they were cherry blossoms."

"They are," Draco said as Ron handed it to him. He took it as carefully as anybody could but Ron noticed that some petals still floated onto the thick comforter that they had dragged over from the bed.

"But you just said that it's called a Sakura."

"Sakura is what the Japanese call them," Draco said as he stared at the pale colored flowers. Ron thought he had a very Luna-ish look on his face as he brought the blossoms up to his nose to smell them.

"Why don't they just call them cherry blossoms like the rest of the world does?" Ron asked. Draco laughed again but didn't say anything. Ron watched him staring at them. He was starting to have that far away look again. Like he was there but wasn't.

"Draco," Ron said bringing the others attention back to him. "Where did you get these…Sakura flowers from? Did somebody give them to you?"

Draco didn't answer him for a while. He just sat there looking at the branch that was sitting on his lap, lightly stroking one of the flowers. Ron didn't think he was going to answer him but before he could think of how to change the subject Draco replied, "Yeah." Even Ron could hear the sadness in his voice when he'd said it. Draco was silent for another minute and then took a deep breath and looked up at Ron. Ron's breath caught in his throat as he noticed the tears that started welling up in Draco's eyes.

"It's sort of a long story though," Draco said.

"That's alright," Ron said as he scooted closer to Draco and placed an arm around his shoulders. "I like long stories." Though now he wasn't so sure he was going to like this one. Draco smiled at him and then looked back at the Sakura branch.

"My parents took me with them to Japan during the spring before our first year," he started.

"Oh well that's not so bad," Ron said before he could stop himself.

"Who said it was going to be?" Draco smiled at him, though Ron could tell it was forced.

"Oh I just thought…never mind," he said shaking his head. "Keep going."

"Yes well as I was saying," Draco started again. "We were there to meet with an old acquaintance of my father's." Draco paused and swallowed before continuing on.

"When we arrived at the meeting place he had with him some younger friends of his. A brother and sister—twins—they were muggles." Again he paused not even looking at Ron to see his astonished face. "I remember she was wearing the most peculiar outfit. Some sort of maid looking dress with cat ears and a tail." Even Ron couldn't hold back the chuckle as he tried to picture such an outfit. Draco laughed with him.

"She was really...I don't know…loud," he said.

"Loud?"

"Yes loud," Draco said, sounding annoyed that Ron dared interrupt him a second time. "Are you going to let me tell this or not?"

"Sorry."

"Her brother was pretty quiet," he continued, "the complete opposite of her. She somehow convinced the adults to let the two of them show me around Tokyo. They took me to this huge park to see the Sakura trees—I think it was called Ueno. That was the first time I saw the flowers." He paused again, looking dreamy. "They were perfect.

"I spent most of that day with just her since her brother had to leave for some sort of job. We talked a lot. I even told her all about wizards though I think she already knew a lot about them."

"How did…?" Ron started but Draco cut him off.

"Wizards don't hide from muggles in Japan the way we do here," Draco said. "Anyway when we came back home I started writing to her. We exchanged letters through most of our first year. She sent me the branch for Christmas."

"Oh," Ron said as he looked at the branch. He wondered how Draco's parents had felt about that friendship. He knew they couldn't have been too happy. "So what about now? Do you still talk to her?"

Draco's gaze shifted from the flowers to the fireplace instead. "I can't," he said so quietly Ron almost couldn't hear him. "She's dead."

"I'm sorry," Ron said quietly though probably a little too quickly.

"Don't be," Draco replied and looked up at him. "It's not your fault."

"But I'm the one who brought it up," Ron said.

"Nothing wrong with that," Draco said. "I don't really mind talking about it with you."

"Oh," Ron said unsure how to respond. "Thanks." Draco laughed at him again and he felt his cheeks turn red. "So what was she like?" he asked.

"I already told you."

"You told me she was loud," Ron said. "You didn't tell me what kind of person she was."

Draco was silent for a minute, looking thoughtful. "She was a hard person to describe." He said finally. "She was really outspoken—never afraid to say what she was thinking. She didn't even care who she was speaking to." He let out a laugh. "Some of the things she said to my father…" he trailed off.

"What sort of things?" Ron coaxed but Draco just shook his head.

"I bet it was her mouth that got her into trouble," he said quietly, looking back at the branch he was still holding. "She was the type of person who would have looked even the Drak Lord in the face and told him to shove off."

"What happened to her?" Ron asked gently. A tear escaped from the corner of Draco's eye and he shook his head again.

"I don't know," he breathed as another tear slid down his cheek to join the first one. "My owl just kept bringing the last letter I wrote to her back."

"Maybe something just happened that kept her from writing back to you," Ron suggested even though he knew it was unlikely.

"Oh no she was dead," he said and Ron was surprised by the sudden venom in his voice. "My father made sure I knew she was dead."

Ron didn't say anything else—he didn't have to. He thought he knew now why Draco's voice always hardened when ever he spoke about his father. Draco took a couple deep breaths and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears.

"Don't do that," Ron said as he watched Draco try to compose himself.

"Don't do what?" Draco asked into his hands.

"Hide from me like that."

Draco stared at him for a while but didn't say anything. Yawning, he instead stretched and then laid his head down on Ron's lap placing the branch on a table next to the couch that Ron hadn't seen there a minute ago—replacing his flawless Malfoy mask. "So much for getting any homework done tonight eh?"

Ron sighed, knowing that he had been defeated. "Yeah," he said as he turned to stare at the pale flowers now cast in an orange glow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: All of my fellow Tokyo Babylon worshipers will recognize who she is. Everyone not familiar with the series that's okay too…I think it'll add more mystery to Draco's past Or you can throw things at me if that's what you'd prefer. It's all good.


	28. Year Five: Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 28**

Most of that weekend was spent catching up with school work and when they weren't busy with that then Professor Umbridge usually had some form of work for Draco to do. Part of Ron thought that Draco was asking her for most of it, trying to keep himself busy. Many times Ron caught Draco staring off into space with the most somber look on his face. Ron had began wishing he'd never asked such a terrible question as it seemed to have open some sort of old wound of Draco's.

Aside from Draco's new depressed attitude life went on pretty normally—until the Monday night that Dumbledore's Army was discovered.

The Gryffindor common room was still fairly empty since it was before curfew and the DA were still in their meeting. Ron had decided to sit in his favorite chair by the fire and take out his defensive magic book, going through the spells and how best to cast them in his head as he read through the pages for the hundredth time since Christmas. On a night like that he'd much rather be spending time with Draco but Professor Umbridge had come calling. It was probably best that way though as it saved Ron from having to make up some sort of excuse for not going to the Room of Requirement.

That's were he was when several of the DA came running back into the common room, all out of breath. Neville came over and threw himself into the chair across from Ron all red faced and sweating. Ron felt a pang of fear creep into his stomach as he looked at the other boy who had a look of terror written all over his face.

"What happened?" Ron asked putting his book down on the table in between them.

Neville sat panting for a few seconds more until he was able to say, "Umbridge found out."

Ron felt his insides turn to ice. "But how?"

Neville just shook his head though. Conversation picked up and soon it was found out that nobody really knew anything. They had just been learning how to make patronuses—Ron of course felt a wave of jealousy at hearing this—and then all of a sudden a house elf wearing tons of hats showed up and warned them that she was on her way. Just as Ron got the full story and a feeling of apprehension was settling itself within his stomach Hermione came rushing in through the portrait hole looking quite disheveled.

"She's caught Harry," she puffed as she made her way through the crowd to sit on the closest couch. The whole common room burst into an uproar. Everybody started questioning her at once.

"I don't know any more than the rest of you," she yelled after a minute. "I think Malfoy was the one who caught him but I'm not sure. And besides, it gets worse." For this she looked directly at Ron. "She's got the parchment that we all signed at the first meeting…she's got all of our names."

The whole room went silent and Ron felt as though something had come up and hit him in the face. He felt heavy as he realized that even though he hadn't gone to a meeting since before Christmas it didn't matter because his signature was still on that parchment—and he was certain that Draco had gotten a look at it.

…………………………

"I said I was sorry," Ron said as he caught up with Draco. He had followed him down into the dungeons after they had run into each other in the Entrance Hall after Breakfast.

"All this time," Draco said as he kept walking. "The three of you knew all this time and you didn't tell me."

"I said…" Ron started but stopped himself as Draco rounded on him, a look of rage contorting his face.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it Weasley," he yelled causing Ron to cringe. "Why didn't you say anything to me? Why the fuck were you protecting _them_?"

Ron looked down at his feet. He cursed himself for acting like a child who was getting scolded by his parents but he didn't want this to get to bad. He guessed Draco had good enough reason to be angry with him anyway.

"Hermione jinxed the parchment," Ron tried. He though the truth would be a good enough excuse. "I didn't want to find out what would happen."

"Bull shit," Draco said. "You didn't want to get any of them into trouble so you kept their stupid secret."

"Well what does it matter anyway whether I told you or not?" Ron asked.

"Your name was on that piece of paper Ron," Draco shouted. "Do you have any idea how bad that makes me look?"

"Oh well I'm so sorry I've put a smudge on your crummy reputation" Ron yelled back. He couldn't believe that that was all Draco was angry about.

"The bitch has already started questioning me and you can be damn well sure that she's going to tell my father," he yelled.

"I thought you didn't care about what he thought," Ron said.

"I don't."

"Then why the hell are you worrying about her telling him about this?"

Draco didn't say anything. He stood there glaring at Ron but there was something else. Ron had known him long enough to know that Draco was hiding something. Draco let out a sigh as he leaned back against the wall. He looked tired suddenly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again though this time his voice sounded tired too.

"I already told you," Ron said as he took a step closer to him. Draco didn't move or look at him though. He just kept staring at the wall across from him. He let out a small laugh and smiled as he looked down, shadowing his eyes with his hair that had fallen onto his face. Ron took another step.

"Always Mudblood Granger and famous Potter first," he said bringing his hand up to cover eyes.

"That's not true," Ron said gently as he took one more step so that he was standing directly in front of him. Draco breathed a small chuckle and looked up. Ron was surprised to see that his eyes were completely dry.

"Yes it is," he said and then he leaned his head forward to rest on one of Ron's shoulders, lifting his arms up to wrap around Ron's neck.

Returning the hug Ron was hit with a feeling of regret. He supposed his loyalty to Harry and Hermione as well as the DA had out weighed his loyalty to Draco. He tried to tell himself that he didn't tell for Luna and Neville's sake but he knew that that wasn't the case.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and held onto Draco a little tighter. Draco didn't say anything in return though.

………………………

Later that night when Ron returned to his dormitory he noticed that the last of the Sakura flowers had all fallen off of the branch and were sitting in the small piles that had formed on the table and floor. He picked it up to look at it and saw that its leaves were starting to bud instead.

"I told you the flowers wouldn't last very long," Neville said when Ron caught his attention. "Shame really." He turned back to the work that he had laid out all over his bed. Ron couldn't help but feel however that the loss of the flowers at such a time seemed to be a bad omen.

He placed the branch back on the table as he pulled out his own homework to finish, trying his hardest to concentrate more on old goblin wars and less on the sickness beginning to creep into his chest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: It's short…and sad…I'm sorry. I also don't think I'll be able to finish year five before Christmas like I had hoped either. Stupid holidays making life so hectic. I sill only have a few more chapters to go though…I'm guessing 3 or 4 but it could go a little longer than that. I don't know.

I hope everyone else's Yuletide season has been more relaxing than mine has so far.


	29. Year Five: Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst (oh god is there angst)**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 29**

Ron wished that he could have said that life went back to normal after that but truth be told it was quite the opposite. Dumbledore was gone, Umbridge made the new headmistress and Fred and George's constant pranks and insubordination against her made it hard to think properly no matter where you were. O.W.L. exams were creeping up quickly as well and Ron was sick with worry at the realization that they only had six weeks left at the start of the Easter holidays.

Neville, Luna and he started spending so much time in the library that Ron seriously thought that they should move in. Draco never went with them though. In fact Ron saw very little of Draco during the holiday. Ron thought this was mostly due in part to his new duties as part of the _Inquisitorial Squad—_probably madea hundred times harder after his brother's swamp was deposited the Monday after holidays were over—though he was sure a good part of it was because Draco was avoiding him as well. Though Ron couldn't blame him it still didn't stop it from hurting.

On top of all his studying Ron still had Quidditch practices as well for their final match of the year against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer. Ron of course continued to do very poorly during these practices but mostly because he found that his attention was continually wandering toward the stands in search for a certain blond haired git. So of course it came as no surprise that when the day of the match finally arrived Ron was feeling less than thrilled and to say that he was nervous would have been that year's greatest understatement.

As he stood there pulling the red Gryffindor robes on the only thing he wanted to do was sink into the ground and disappear. He was sure that's what his team mates wished he would do too cause as he glanced around he could see the grim looks they threw his way—everyone except Katie that is.

He watched her as she strapped her arm guards on and adjusted her Dragon hide gloves. She must have caught him looking at her out of the corner of her eye because she looked at him suddenly and smiled at him, sort of awkwardly, before quickly turning back to getting ready.

He turned his attention back to his own equipment sitting on the bench in front of him feeling a new sense of dread creeping over him. He knew there wasn't any hope if Katie didn't have any words of reassurance for him. His arms and legs started to feel like jelly as he lifted his own arm guards and started to strap them on he began to wonder how it was he was still able to stand. He heard some movement behind him and soft whispers but ignored it as he moved to put the other one on. He heard Angela clear her throat.

"Weasley." He turned and she nodded her head toward the exit. "You got a visitor." He must have had a questioning look on his face because she continued. "Of the blond haired variety."

He felt a jolt of excitement mixed with his apprehension as he made his way to the exit and out into the warm spring air. He was surprised though to instead be met with Luna. She had her back turned to him and was looking at the mass of students still making their way to the stands. The rush of excitement was quickly replaced with foreboding. He couldn't think of any _good_ reason for her to come see him before his match.

"Luna is everything alright?" He asked walking up behind her.

"Yes everything is perfectly well," She said in her usual dreamy manner.

"Oh," he said feeling a little confused. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about then?"

"Well since we are here I suppose I should wish you luck," She said still looking at the groups of students.

"Okay thanks," Ron said starting to feel a twinge of annoyance. "Was that it then?"

"No," Luna said. "Draco wanted to talk to you before your match but he didn't think the team would let you if he came in and asked."

Ron felt his excitement return and mix with apprehension. "So Draco's coming right now?" he asked as he too looked at the on coming students in search of the blond haired boy.

"So," he started throwing a quick glance in her direction, "You and Draco are talking again?"

"Oh I suppose so," she said. "I was quite surprised though when he asked me to do this of course."

"To do what?" Ron asked stupidly as he went back to looking for Draco. Luna let out a small giggle, a tiny sound almost like that of a bell. Ron felt his cheeks heat up as he realized his stupidity.

"Sorry," He managed to mutter in embarrassment. "So," he hesitated. "How is Draco?"

"Oh he is doing well I guess," she answered.

"You guess?"

"I didn't talk to him very much," she answered. "He just asked me to get you before he got here…you do have plenty of time right?" She asked suddenly.

"Um, yeah I guess so," Ron said. "I mean Angela will come out to get me if I take to long but the stands haven't even filled up yet."

"Then let us hope that he gets here before she comes out for you," Luna said and Ron thought he heard a trace of some annoyance laced with her dreamy tone.

They stood there for another minute before she continued, "He seemed very sad."

"I know," Ron said softly.

"Did you say something mean to him again?"

"I don't think so," Ron said. "But I really didn't say anything nice to him either."

"You need to make sure you say nice things to him," Luna said as she looked at him. "Draco gets sad very easily so you have to be good to him."

"I know that," Ron said. "But it's hard sometimes."

"It's not very hard to be nice to someone," she said.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"No but that's what it sounded like."

"It's just hard trying to figure out what's going to make him sad sometimes that's all."

"Well Ronald he's not going to be able to tell you all the time," she said. "If you love him you'll have to be able to know things like that. Especially since he doesn't like letting others know how he really feels."

"Well why does he have to make it so hard then," Ron sighed.

"You're exactly the same way," she said. "It's just human nature."

"What's taking you guys so long out here?" Angela said angrily poking her head out of the tent.

"Oh we'll only be a bit longer," Luna said flatly not even bothering to take her eyes off of Ron.

"Well hurry it up then," she said as she pulled herself back inside.

"H-he's probably not coming," Ron said pulling his eyes away from Luna.

"Oh yes," she said, "He'll be here." And it was almost as if her words were a queue because no sooner than she said them did Ron see Draco separate from the rest of the crowd and start making his way over to them.

"Ronald," Luna said pulling his gaze back towards her. "Make sure you tell him you love him okay." Ron couldn't remember the last time he'd seen such a serious and sad look on Luna's face. She almost looked like she was going to cry again.

"Luna?" He asked slowly. The thought came to him randomly but he couldn't shake it so he had to ask. "Do you," he paused and glanced quickly at Draco as he continued to walk towards them. "Do you love…?"

"I should leave the two of you," she said cutting him off. "Good luck with the match Ronald," she was back to her dreamy self. "I'll be cheering for you." With that she walked away, exchanging nods with Draco as the two of them passed each other. Ron stared after her sadly.

"Ron?" He was brought back to reality as Draco stopped in front of him. "Everything alright?"

He nodded. "But I think I'm the one who should be asking that question." Draco fiddled with the edge of his sleeves—a nervous habit he'd picked up only recently.

"I wanted to wish you good luck," Draco said uneasily.

"Draco is everything okay?" Ron blurted out startling the other boy.

"Why wouldn't it," Draco said starting to sound defensive.

"I'm being serious," Ron said. "You've been avoiding me for weeks."

"I didn't think you wanted to see me," he said simply.

"What put that idea into your head?" Ron asked.

"Why do you even have to ask that?" Ron could hear the strain in his voice as if he was trying to keep himself from yelling.

"I told you before…"

"I remember what you said," Draco said angrily. "But it still doesn't make it any better Ron. I've been trying, trying real hard but you're just making it so much more difficult."

"What?" Ron asked as he started feeling his eyes begin to burn. "What am I making more difficult? What are you trying to do?"

"To make this work," Draco yelled. "To prove everybody wrong." He stood there panting as though speaking those words had taken all the energy out of him and he stared at Ron who could only stand there in stunned silence.

"To prove everybody wrong about what?" Ron finally managed to ask. He felt his heart twist though as the first tear slid down Draco's cheek.

"Everything," he breathed as he shook his head and brought a hand up to wipe away the tear. Ron grabbed his wrist though to stop him and instead pulled him into a hug. Like always Draco didn't cry out but buried his face into Ron's robes, letting his tears soak into the fabric.

"Weasley…" Angela said from behind but stopped. Ron knew she had noticed who he was talking to.

"I'll be there in a minute," he said curtly not even bothering to turn around. Angela must not have been in an arguing mood though since Ron heard the flap of the tent as she went back inside. Draco let out a shaky breath and took a step back from Ron, turning his back to him.

"I'll make you a deal," he said as he brought his hand up to wipe away the tears.

"A deal?" Ron asked feeling confused. Draco turned around and looked at him seriously.

"That's right," he said. "If you win this match then we'll go on as if Dumbledore's Army never happened."

"Draco that's not how things like this work," Ron said taking a step towards him but Draco backed away.

"But it's the only way _this_ is going to work," Draco said, his voice faltering a little.

"You can't just pretend…"

"I've spent my whole life pretending," he said sternly causing Ron's heart to jolt just a little. Ron stood there gaping at Draco as the other boy closed his eyes and took a breath trying to compose himself.

Draco walked back up to Ron and without a word of warning pulled him into a kiss. Ron was almost too stunned to kiss back but Draco didn't seem to notice or care. Ron couldn't help but feel that this kiss was filled with desperation. Soon Draco broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Ron's.

"This can't go on forever," he whispered and Ron could hear the heartache Draco must have been feeling dripping from his voice. "Soon we'll have to go back to being just Weasley and Malfoy and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

Ron could feel his throat begin to close up and the burning behind his eyes intensify. "Why are you saying this?" he asked, trying to keep his own voice steady.

"Because it's the truth we've both been trying to ignore," Draco said placing a brief kiss on the bridge of Ron's nose. "But I want to keep ignoring it for as long as I can."

Ron wasn't able to say anything, couldn't say anything. Draco pulled him into another kiss that he could only return miserably. He held onto Draco as tightly as he could until the blond pulled away causing a feeling similar to having you're heart wrenched from your chest.

"I'll see you after you've won your match then?" Draco said as lightly as he could manage and he started to walk away. All Ron could do was nod though as he watched Draco turn and begin to make his way toward the stands.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: up…down…up…down…insert random love triangle here…this is starting to look like the story line for a bad soap opera XD All I really need now is for someone to fall into a coma (for no apparent reason of coarse) and someone to be buried alive…

Anyway I hope every one had a wonderful holiday. If you don't celebrate anything during this season then I wish to apologize for the rest of us for making your life within your community a living hell for this past month (us Christmas shoppers can be very crazy I know).

I would have had this chapter up a couple days ago but I found that some sneaky powers that be stole a few hours away during the day the last two or three days…and added them to the nights while I was sitting at work. Damn them.


	30. Year Five: Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst, Cornyness**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter**

It was dark—darker than dark. Everything surrounding him was nothing but a deep blackness as far as he could see. Ron looked around trying to make out something, anything but no matter how hard he strained his eyes he wasn't able to penetrate the blackness.

"Hello," he yelled into the void straining his ears to hear some kind of response—none came. "Where the hell am I?" he asked the air. That was when he saw the first one.

It was a small pale speck falling from where the sky should have been. He looked up to see where it was coming from but only saw the same darkness. As he stared another one started falling and then another and another until soon the blackness was filled with them. He brought his hand up to catch one. It was a flower petal—a pale pink flower petal. He stood there staring at it, trying to figure out what it was supposed to mean. That's when he started to hear her.

She spoke so softly at first that he wasn't sure if he was really hearing anything at all but soon she was speaking more loudly, almost as if she were right next to him. He couldn't understand what she was saying though. She spoke clearly enough, every syllable distinguished from the next but he couldn't understand the words she was speaking as if—as if she was speaking in another language.

"Hello," he said to the darkness this time. "Where are you?" she kept going in her incoherent babbling. "I'm sorry but I can't understand a word you're saying."

_In a dream._

He spun around trying to find where her voice was coming from. "What do you mean 'in a dream'?" he asked trying to peer through the petals at the surrounding darkness.

_We're in a dream._

"A dream?" he said questioningly. "Who are you?" he asked turning again trying to catch a glimpse.

_Nee-chan_

"What?"

_Please save…_

A wind picked up—almost as if it was in tune with her panicked voice—and he found himself being blinded by pale petals as they rushed his face. He brought his arms up to shield himself as best he could as he yelled out, "Please save? Please save who…what? What the heck are you talking about?"

_Please save him_

He peered through the space between his arms and in front of him he saw her. Her back was facing away from him and she was dressed in strange looking white robes that billowed around her small frame in the wind and had short black hair. She started to turn her face toward him but the only thing he could make out was the single tear that was sliding down her cheek. Another burst of wind blew more petals in his face and he was forced to cover his eyes.

_Please save…_

………………………………

He jolted awake—or at least it felt like he jolted. When he opened his eyes he was still laying on his back staring up at the ceiling inside of the room of requirement. A soft orange glow danced as it filled the room. He moved his arm to feel that the space next to him on the large bed was empty. He ran his hands over his damp face as he let out a heavy sigh and sat up. As he thought Draco was sitting across the room on the large sofa. He was just sitting there staring at the fire—not even blinking.

"Draco?" Ron called out softly catching the other boy's attention. Draco turned his head slightly, not enough to look at him but enough to tell Ron that he had heard him and was listening. "You alright?"

Draco nodded. Not a real nod but more of a slight incline of his chin and then he returned his gaze to the fire. Ron knew that that was as good a sign as any that things weren't alright. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed he pulled on his pants, stood up, stretched and made his way over to the couch.

"No wonder I'm having weird dreams," Ron said as he leaned over the back of the couch and loosely wrapped his arms around Draco's shoulders. "My teddy bear abandoned me." He was happy to hear a small chuckle from the gloomy blond.

"That was corny," he said simply. Smiling Ron brought his hand under Draco's chin and tilted his head back so that he was looking at him.

"You like corny though," he said and started to lower his head. "Admit it."

The kiss didn't last to long. Ron's back was starting to hurt from bending over the way he was and he was sure that Draco's neck wasn't very comfortable either. As Ron pulled away Draco let out a small content sigh.

"I suppose I could live with corny," he said and let out a small laugh and moved forward to make room for Ron as he climbed over the back of the couch and positioned himself behind Draco, wrapping his arms around the others stomach and placing a small kiss on the nape of Draco's neck. Draco leaned back against him and Ron rested his chin on top of Draco's head, following his gaze back into the fire.

"What's up?" he asked after they sat there in silence for a few moments. Draco just sighed and shook his head in what Ron took to be a silent plea to drop it. Ron didn't want to drop it though.

"Draco…"

"What sort of dream did you have?" Draco asked. It was his way of changing the subject and Ron knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere pushing it.

"Nothing special," he said. "Don't really remember the details anymore anyway." It was the truth. Already he could feel the events of the dream blurring. He really couldn't even remember what she had been telling him.

Draco didn't say anything more on the subject and just curled up against Ron even more resting his head on Ron's chest. Ron tightened his hold on the blond slightly with one arm and ran his other hand up and down one of Draco's arms as he continued to stare into the fire.

He felt a gap forming between the two of them—a wide black gorge separating them. He knew what was creating it too. Draco had said it perfectly earlier that day and the thought terrified him.

"Draco," he said suddenly.

"What?" the blond asked, lifting his head up slightly.

"Nothing," he said smiling. "I just felt like saying your name that's all." He was happy to hear Draco laugh at him.

He didn't want to go back to just being Weasley anymore then Draco wanted to go back to being Malfoy.

"Oh okay then _Ronald_," Draco said sitting up and wrapping his arms around Ron's neck and bringing him down into a kiss.

"Your birthday is coming up isn't?" Ron asked in between kisses.

"Yeah what about it?" Draco asked pulling Ron down so that he was lying on top of him.

"What do you want?" Ron asked as he started kissing down his neck.

"Nothing special," he moaned as Ron ran a hand up his chest. He sat up and pulled Ron's face close to his. "Just as long as I'm with you." Ron pulled him into another long kiss trying to fill that gap.

It may have sounded selfish but he wanted to stay Ron and Draco forever—he didn't care if he had to fight back You-Know-Who himself to keep it that way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Gah! That dream seemed so much more dramatic in my head…it's stupid.

As I'm sure you can tell Ron won his match. I was going to write a chapter for it but it's pretty much the same as in the original book so I decided not too. Sorry to all of you who were looking forward to it. I don't think I could have done a Quidditch match much justice anyway.

I'm sure you also noticed the updates have slowed down. Unfortunately it's going to stay that way for a bit. I have all this stuff written in my notebook but not enough time to type it all up (even with the holiday season behind us).


	31. Year Five: Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter** **31**

"Oh I think I saw a bit of mist that time," Luna said wide eyed as she watched Draco once again fail at producing a Patronus.

"Oh shut up," he said furiously. "Are you going to say that every time?"

"I was only trying to make you feel better," she said with a slight pout. Normally a face like that would have made Draco ease up and back off…

"The only thing that's going to make me feel better is actually managing to make one of these damn things," he said throwing himself into an empty wooden chair. Ron cringed as he heard it creak and almost expected to see Draco thrown to the floor in its protest.

"If it makes you feel any better," Ron started while standing up from the desk he'd been sitting on, "Harry wasn't able to make a full Patronus his first try either."

"I don't bloody care how many times it took him," Draco yelled. "It just pisses me off that he can make one and I can't."

"There's our old Draco," Luna said happily while looking up at the ceiling. Draco shot her a nasty look but she paid him no attention.

"Maybe you just need a happier memory," Neville said from his spot near the door. He stuck his head out briefly to see if anybody was coming.

They were in one of Hogwarts' many unused classrooms on the second floor. Neville and Luna had agreed to teach Ron and Draco how to make Patronuses after Harry had shown his off during the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical part of the O.W.L. exam. Needless to say, Draco was very angry.

"I'm sure my memory is fine," he said through his teeth as he watched a thin silver mist snake its way out of the tip of Ron's wand. It floated for a few seconds looking like it wanted to take shape but soon dissipated.

"Oh bugger," Ron cursed. "It was close that time too." Draco let out an annoyed puff of air and looked the other way. He looked so insulted that Ron almost couldn't help but feel bad though at the same time he was sort of happy that he _was_ better at something for a change.

"Neville could be right," Luna said. "What sort of memory are you using?" she looked at Draco who let out a grunt but otherwise ignored her. Instead she turned to Ron. "Well what about you Ronald? What sort of memory are you using?"

Ron couldn't stop the blush and glanced over towards Draco.

"Oh is it one of Draco and your naughty times?" she said casually and Ron instantly felt all the blood vessels in his face explode.

"What? No!" He said embarrassingly because in fact that was one of the first memories he had chosen to use. "And don't say things like that."

"Oh very well," she said looking out the window as though she found the clouds much more interesting anyway.

"So what sort of memory _are_ you trying this out with?" Draco asked coldly. Ron looked back at him to see him still sitting there but turned facing them now, his perfect stone Malfoy expression in place.

"I-I was," he stammered. He didn't know why Draco looking at him like that made him feel so uncomfortable. "I was thinking about when I finally opened the bag with the Sakura branch in it," he blurted out. Draco blinked and looked like he hadn't expected him to say that.

"Oh you mean the flowers that I never had the chance to see?" Luna said dreamily.

"Why?" Draco asked.

"What do you mean 'why?'?"

"Back then you didn't even know what it was."

"Oh are you talking about when you read the card that said _Love Draco_?" Neville asked pulling himself back in again. "You looked pretty happy that night."

If it was possible Ron blushed even deeper. He found this whole conversation embarrassing. "Well yeah," he managed. "It was the happiest I can remember being in a while anyway."

Draco looked at him awkwardly before turning to look out the window. Ron watched for a few minutes as Luna continued.

"I usually imagine myself finding a Crumple-Horn-Snorkack," she said happily. "But the first time I was thinking of our picnics we used to have and when that didn't work I remembered our game of tag." She looked at the back of Draco's head. "Remember that day?" Draco didn't say anything. He just kept staring out the window. "Why don't you try it with that memory?"

"I have been," he finaly snapped without looking away from the window.

"Oh," Luna said awkwardly actually looking perplexed, like she didn't know what to say next.

"Well then another memory," Ron said. "Like maybe when you got your first broom or…" but he trailed off. He couldn't think of anything else.

"I'm sure there are plenty of other happy memories for you to try it with," Neville tried. Draco just continued staring out the window, his face turned so that the others couldn't see him.

"Draco…" Ron started but Draco shook his head in one of his silent pleas bringing his hand up to his face.

"Draco?" Luna tried as well.

Draco managed to choke up a laugh though it sort of sounded halfway like a sob and rested his head in his arms on the back of the chair. Ron heard Neville shut the door from behind him as he made his way across the room.

"I-I'm sorry," Nevile stammered. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought…"

"You just thought what?" Draco choked out and lifted his head to look at them. "That since my father's rich he buys me everything I want? That Lucius and Narssica Malfoy are the world's most perfect parents and the Malfoy Manor is just bursting with fluffy memories?" He was red faced and his chest was heaving. Even with tears collecting at the corner of his eyes Ron had to admit he looked menacing and could see out of the corner of his eye Neville take a step back.

"That's not what he meant," Ron said trying to save Neville from Draco's wrath.

"Oh shut up," Draco yelled. "That's exactly what he meant. That's what everybody in this goddamn place thinks of me and my family. That we're just one big evil happy family."

"B-but I wasn't trying to say that your ev…I mean I wasn't trying to say that your family's…" Neville was only making it worse.

"I bet even now you're wondering what sort of curse I'm going to use on you aren't you," he said and Ron was certain that Neville also noticed Draco's grip on his wand tighten.

Neville couldn't say anything, for which Ron was grateful. All the he could manage was strange incoherent babble. Ron took this opportunity to step in between them.

"Draco that's enough," he said, tightening his hold on his own wand.

"Yes Draco," Luna said placing a hand on his shoulder. "All this anger is not good for you."

But Draco wasn't listening to her. He was staring at Ron, with his wand in his hand standing between him and Neville—protecting Neville from him. Their eyes met for a brief second and then Draco was moving forward. Ron tensed, not sure what to expect but Draco only walked passed him and Neville and out the door.

The rest of them stood there for a minute in silence until Luna turned to Ron and asked, "You're not going to go after him?"

Ron was only able to vaguely shake his head. She let out a small sigh and she too walk out of the room after him. Ron didn't follow. He was too afraid—of what he wasn't sure but he was afraid.

"I am sorry," Neville said weakly pulling Ron's attention to him.

"It's alright," Ron said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I didn't mean…"

"It's okay Neville," Ron said cutting him off. "Things are just…complicated right now."

"Oh." He looked at the floor looking very lost.

"Hey Neville, can you still make a Patronus with only a thought of something that would make you happy?"

"You mean like something that hasn't happened yet?" he asked looking back up.

"Or something that might never happened."

"Well I doubt Luna's ever going to find a Crumple-Horned-Snorkack," Neville answered with a small smile. Ron tried to smile back but found that he couldn't.

"Then I think I'm gonna try one more time," Ron said. Neville nodded and stepped back.

Ron closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on Draco being happy. There ws no picture to it. Ron knew that even when Draco smiled it was usually fake and not because he was happy. He had no idea what sort of thing would make Draco happy either so he just desperately concentrated on the idea of it.

He opened his eyes, lifted his wand and spoke the incantation, "Expecto Patronum." The silver mist burst from the tip of his wand and snaked its way around him and to the floor where it shifted and took the shape of a small silver ferret. It stood on it's back legs for a second, looking up at him before running that crooked run ferrets do across the room and back again.

"There you are," Neville said as it circled his feet. "You did it. So what did you think of?"

"Nothing special," Ron lied. "Just thought about getting all O's on my exams." He was sure Neville knew he was lying though.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Ok I don't think there is much more I can do to this to make it much better so here you are. I hope you like better than I do.


	32. Year Five: Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP and HBP mostly. Maybe some DH…I'm not sure yet. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 32**

Ron didn't see Draco for the rest of that day and most of the next which didn't surprise him since Draco had to take the ancient runes exam while he and Neville had the day off. The two of them were sitting in the common room going over notes when Ginny came barging through the portrait hole and stormed over to them.

"What the hell did that _thing_ do to Luna?" she spat.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ron asked looking up from his work.

"You know what I'm talking about," she yelled. "That slimy git of yours. What did he do to Luna?"

Ron felt his heart skip. "Why? What's wrong with her" Neville asked anxiously.

"So you haven't seen her yet today?" Ginny asked a little more calmly now. Both of them shook their heads. "Then I suggest the two of you go to the library to study then." She turned to walk away but stopped. She directed a very pointed glare at Ron. "You better do something about him Ron before I do. And believe me you won't want him anymore when I'm through with him." With that she left the common room and Neville and Ron both let out breathes that they had been holding.

"What do you suppose he did to her?" Neville asked Ron nervously. Ron could only shake his head though.

He felt guilty. After all, he let Luna chase after Draco by herself even though he was in such a mood. Ron was too afraid to go after him so he let Luna do it instead. Without saying a word he quickly packed up his books and piles of parchment into his bag and threw it over his shoulder. He didn't wait for Neville to finish packing his own things before he was walking across the room and out through the portrait hole.

He couldn't remember getting to the library any faster than he did then. He burst through the doors, much to Madam Pince's frustration. While he stood there ignoring her scolding he looked around and soon spotted Luna sitting in the farthest corner reading a magazine, the newest edition of The Quibbler most likely. She looked normal, or as normal as Luna could look. She had her usual dreamy look and didn't look like anything was wrong with her. That was until he walked over to her.

Looking at her from the door she looked perfectly fine but when he went to take the seat across from her he had to stop. The left side of her face from the corner of her eye to just below her jawbone was badly bruised. Looking at it he felt horribly sick since it wasn't very hard to figure out how she had gotten it.

"Hello Ronald," she said without bothering to look up from her magazine.

"Luna…" he started but felt his voice fail. He didn't know why it surprised him so much. It just never occurred to him that Draco would ever really hit a girl let alone hit _Luna_. She looked up at him, giving him a better look at the damage.

"Yes Ronald," she said casually. "Is something wrong?"

"Y-your face…"

"Oh yes," she said as though she'd forgotten all about it. "Well you see I am a very clumsy girl…"

"He hit you didn't he," Ron cut her off before she could get too much further into her story.

"Well he was very angry yesterday," she said in the same tone as she picked the magazine back up.

"That's…"

"If it bothers you so much then maybe next time you'll be the one to go after him." She said in her usual dreamy manner but even Ron couldn't miss the resentment in her words.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

She didn't say anything for a minute. He thought she did it on purpose to make sure he suffered that much longer. Finally she said, "You're forgiven."

It didn't make Ron feel any better though.

………………………………

"Ron what are you doing here?" He was pulled back down to earth in surprise. He hadn't even noticed her approach. Pulling his gaze away from the students filing out of the Great Hall who were finished with their exams he was astonished to see Hermione standing there looking at him with a concerned look on her face. Out of the new force of habit he quickly glanced around for any sign of Harry.

"Is everything alright?" she asked slowly.

"Um…I…" he stammered nervously. He never really expected Hermione to ever speak to him again. He took a breath and let it out, trying to compose himself.

"Are you waiting for Draco?" she asked. Ron managed to nod, feeling sick as his and Neville's conversation from all those moths ago pushed its way back to the front of his memory.

"Oh," she said awkwardly. "Well I'm sure he'll be out in a bit then." She started to turn away.

"'Mione wait," Ron said and before he could stop himself he grabbed a hold of her hand. She stopped and turned to look at him. "I'm sorry," he blurted out causing her to look surprised.

"I really need to be going," she said looking at her hand still clutched tightly in Ron's grip.

"But 'Mione I…"

"I know Ron," she said softly, cutting him off. "But I really need to go now."

Ron just nodded pathetically and let go of her hand. She hesitated for a second but without another word turned and walked away. Ron watched her for a few seconds until out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Draco. He turned to see the other one watching Hermione's ascent up the marble stairs with a blank look on his face.

Slowly he turned and Ron felt himself grow cold from that emotionless gaze. Swallowing the lump in his throat and trying to pretend he had more courage then he thought he had, Ron made his way across the hall. At that moment he had no idea what he was going to say so he hoped winging it wouldn't hurt the situation any more than it already was.

"Draco…"

"I already told her I'm sorry," he said flatly.

"Wh-what?"

"Luna," Draco continued. "I already told her I was sorry right after…" but he trailed off. Ron just blinked. That was all he really could do. He'd forgotten all about Luna and the damage to her face and now that he was reminded of it he found that it was difficult to feel angry at Draco while he looked like that—lost.

"Oh that," Ron said. "Well she doesn't seem to be very upset about it." He paused. "Not with you anyway." He felt awkward. "I'm sorry by the way." He didn't even know what he was apologizing for.

Draco smiled slightly, a forced smile. He didn't say anything, just took the couple of steps to close the distance between the two of them. Slipping his hand into Ron's—the same hand that just held onto Hermione's—and entwining their fingers, he placed a slight kiss near Ron's jaw, brushing his lips down his neck.

Ron let him. He didn't even care about all the other students walking by. Nobody really seemed to pay them any mind any more anyway.

Later that night as the two of them spent the night in the Room of Requirement Ron was again awoken by the same weird dream as before. As he lay there he tried to remember where he had heard that name before. She had called herself Nee-chan. Ron didn't know what it meant but he felt like he had heard it someplace else before.

Draco shifted and mumbled something incoherent in his sleep, something that sounded like…another language. Suddenly it hit him where it was that he had heard Nee-chan before. Draco and the woman in his dreams were somehow connected.

Please save…Draco? Was she asking him to save Draco? Save him from what though? Who was she and why was she showing up in _his_ dreams?

_Draco is like a porcelain doll._

Carefully Ron shimmied his arms around Draco to pull the two of them closer together. He buried his face in Draco's hair, taking in his scent, etching every part of him into his memory. Ron wished that he could stop time and stay like that forever.

_Soon we'll have to go back to being just Weasley and Malfoy and there's nothing we can do to stop it._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: o.O We'e getting closer. The next chapter is going to start the closing sequence for year 5 and that I think won't be more than 2 or 3 chapters. Then we can finally move into year 6. Year 7 seems so much closer now (the original year and idea that I wanted to write…don't ask where the rest of this stuff came from )


	33. Year Five: Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP , HBP and DH. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 33**

"Madam Pomfrey said that she had to be sent to St. Mungos," Neville said as he caught up with Ron walking down the marble staircase.

"Well she did take three stunners to the chest," Ron replied, trying to hold back a groan as the doors to the Great Hall came into view.

"I know," Neville said. "But it's Professor McGonagall. She always seemed invincible. Always thought she'd just…be here."

"I now what you mean," Ron sighed.

"At least Hagrid got away," Neville said thoughtfully.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that," they heard a snide voice say from behind them. They turned to see a group of Slytherins headed by Pansy Parkinson—of all people. "They'll find him soon enough. After all it shouldn't be that hard to find him." This was followed by a wave of sneers and snickers from the rest of the group.

"Shove off Pansy." Stunned silence came over the group as they all turned in unison to stare dumbfounded at the very irritable looking blond, just come up from the dungeons.

"Dr-Draco," She said in shock. "You can't actually be defending the buffoon."

Draco didn't say anything though as he pushed past her and the rest of the group. He threw a quick tired glance up at Ron before continuing on to find a spot near the back of the hall to sit and wait for the exam to start. Neville hung back as Ron approached Draco slowly.

"Draco is everything alright?" he asked. Draco stared past him blankly but managed to nod slightly. Ron sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"I was up all night studying," he said. "That's all."

"Liar."

"What do you mean 'Liar'?" Draco asked trying to sound insulted but rested his head on Ron's shoulder none the less.

"You didn't need to stay up all night to study for this exam," Ron said. "You're pretty much the second best in our year." Draco tensed for a second but eased up again quickly. Too late Ron realized the mistake of his comment. He was sure Draco didn't enjoy being reminded that he was constantly bested by a _mudblood_.

Before he could utter an apology the doors to the Great Hall opened up for the students to start shuffling in. Draco stood up and without waiting for Ron started to make his way across the hall. All Ron could do was stand and follow behind, kicking himself for his stupidity the entire way.

Ron couldn't stop himself from moaning in agony as he took his seat, thankful that he was at least assigned to a spot near the back. The hourglass was turned and soon the hall was filled with the scratching of quills on parchment.

Ron sat there staring at the horrid Goblin questions. Why was it always about goblins? What did they have to be so unhappy about? After skipping his fifth question in a row Ron let out a sigh into his hands. He silently hoped that the others were doing better than he was though peering through the hall in Neville's direction it looked like the other boy was about to throw up—or was that just an expression of deep thought. It was much too hard to tell from that distance.

He couldn't see her but he was sure that Hermione was making out just perfectly. She always did. Draco was too far up for Ron to see his face but his quill was moving a mile a minute so he was sure he was doing just fine. Ron was happy to see that Harry was struggling just as much as he was and actually looked like he was falling asleep.

Ron twirled his quill between his fingers staring at the next question. He was sure he and Draco had gone over it. He remembered sitting in the library pouring over notes, remembered Draco's lips moving but couldn't put back together what sounds had come out. He hadn't wanted to study that day anyways. Groining he dropped his head onto the desk with a light thud.

He heard some movement behind him a bit and was sure someone was sneering at him—it was almost a sixth sense now. Sure enough when he lifted his head and looked behind him he saw Blaise Zabini in the column of desks next to him—sneering. He shifted his attention back to the test and decided to wing it—any crap that came out of his brain would probably look better than a blank exam paper anyway.

As nonsense flowed from his quill to parchment he lost all track of the time. He was surprised to see as he glanced up at the hourglass that the hour was almost up just as he was finishing up the final answer. He was sure it wasn't enough to pass but at least now nobody could laugh at him for handing in a blank paper. He was even more surprised about how much he remembered once he stopped thinking about it and if Harry or anybody else had happened to look over at him he thought maybe he actually looked like he knew what he was writing about.

He was looking over his answers when the silence of the hall was broken by somebody's scream. He shot out of his seat and stood up to get a better look over the heads of the other students with the same idea. What he saw was Harry on the floor holding his forehead. The exam instructor was running past students and soon was at the fallen boy's side. Ron was to far away to hear what they were saying but with a little effort the two of them got themselves past the students and through the door and out of the Great Hall, but not before the instructor told everyone to sit back in their seats.

Everyone did, though only very reluctantly. Across the hall Ron caught Hermione's eyes, filled to the brim with worry before she too sat back down and out of sight. Forcing his gaze forward Ron sat back down as well. He hated to admit it but he was worried. Harry had been a bastard that whole year and treated him worse than dirt but Ron was worried about him. An uneasy feeling began forming in the pit of his stomach as he tried to look over his exam answers.

The instructor walked back in—without Harry—and was quickly bombarded with questions. Shoving them to the side though he merely told everyone to sit and finish their exams in silence—nobody must have told him that silence wasn't in the average Hogwarts student's vocabulary. Murmured conversation continued to fill the hall until the last grain of sand fell from the hour glass.

"Please leave your exams on your desk—make sure that your name is written on them legibly—and please exit the hall and an orderly fashion," the poor instructor was trying to say as a massive wave of bodies began to make their way to the doors.

Ron was closer to the doors so it was easy for him to slip out before the tidal wave hit him. Once out he scanned the Entrance hall for Harry not very surprised that he didn't see him. Across the hall Ron did see Ginny talking with Luna though —both of them were probably waiting for everyone to finish with their exams. He quickly ran up to them.

"Have either of you seen Harry?" he asked cutting whatever comment—or greeting—Ginny was about to say, her mouth hanging half open.

"No we've only just arrived," Luna answered.

"Why," Ginny asked sounding a little worried. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," Ron breathed looking over at the rest of the students filing out of the Great Hall. "I mean I think something happened. I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Ginny asked.

"I mean…" Ron started as he caught sight of Neville pushing his way through the crowd. Not far behind he caught sight of Hermione trying to squeeze herself between two large Ravenclaw girls. Making their way through the crowd Ron could see Crabb and Goyle and knew that Draco would undoubtedly be with them.

"Ron?"

Forcing himself to look back at the girls he just shook his head. "All I know is that he screamed in the middle of the exam and fell out of his chair."

"Oh how clumsy," Luna said looking past Ron at the crowd.

"What do you mean "screamed and fell out of his chair"?" Ginny asked.

"How the bloody hell should I know," Ron yelled.

"He probably had another vision about Voldemort," Hermione said as she and Neville joined the group.

"What?" Ginny and Ron said almost in unison. "What do you mean another vision about Voldemort?" Ron continued.

"I thought Snape was supposed to help him block those," Ginny said. Ron just looked at her, unable to hide his surprise.

"What are you talking about," he asked. "What the hell is going on?"

"Oh Ron it's much to complicated to explain to you right now," Hermione said bringing a hand up to her forehead.

"And if you hadn't been so busy that night before Christmas…" Ginny started but was cut off by Hermione's hushes.

Ron looked at Neville and Luna. "Have you two been in on this then?"

Neville looking terrified and pale quickly shook his head. "I'm just as confused as you are," he said frantically. "I swear." Luna just kept staring passed him though. He didn't have to ask her what she was staring at. Already he could feel the piercing gaze in the back of his neck. He didn't turn around though. He knew exactly what look Draco would be looking at him with. He was in the same breathing space as Hermione after all.

"Harry!" he was brought back to his senses by Hermione's frantic call. She and Ginny started running towards the marble stairs as Harry was just as franticly running down them. Neville rushed towards them as well and Luna—making sure to give Ron a significant look—followed close behind.

Ron hovered there. He didn't know what to do. He looked at Draco who was now standing just to the right of the group near the stairs leading down onto the dungeons alone and looking at Ron—looking at him like he was waiting for an answer to a question Ron wasn't sure he had heard properly. Suddenly Ron thought that what ever he did next would determine whether he would be _Ron_ or just another _Weasley_.

Harry came rushing by and pushed Ron to the side. He had to turn away—he couldn't look at Draco any more as he grabbed hold of Hermione's wrist when she walked by.

"Is everything alright?" he asked trying not to picture the look on Draco's face as he walked down those stairs.

"No, everything is not alright," Harry said rounding on them. "And you aren't helping by butting in to everyone else's business."

"Ever thank that maybe I can help," Ron snapped at him.

"Don't really think I need any of _your_ help," Harry said and turned to continue walking down the corridor. Hermione looked at him apologetically and followed along with Ginny and Luna—who wouldn't even look at him. Neville strayed behind for a little while.

"I'll stick close to make sure he doesn't get them into trouble."

"Thanks Neville," Ron sighed. "Try to convince them to stay out of it if you can."

Neville nodded. "You still have the DA coin?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll get a message to you somehow if I can." With that Neville walked away—still pale faced and still looking terrified but still he went on and Ron couldn't help but admire him for it.

Ron watched them walk away and turn into a classroom farther down the hall. Once they were gone he slowly turned to look at the staircase even though he already knew it was too late. He'd chosen the wrong answer and now he would have to suffer with the consequences.

Draco wasn't standing there waiting for him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I know this took forever and I'm sorry. I've been trying to put the finishing touches on my plans for year six so I know how to end year five. Now that I've gotten this far I realize how little I actually thought ahead for this story when I had started.


	34. Year Five: Chapter 34

We've gone to Unbridge's Office

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP , HBP and DH. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Chapter 34**

_Unbridge's Office_

Ron was running down the hall. It had felt like hours since his and Neville's departure in the Entrance hall and he had spent the entire time in the Gryffindor dormitories pacing back and fourth, stopping only to look at the DA coin and then put it back down next to the Sakura branch.

More than once his eyes strayed on its dark green leaves but every time he forced himself to look away. It was too late to be having regrets now. He thought briefly of running down into the dungeons in search of him but Ron wasn't stupid enough to think that that would fix anything. Draco's look had said it all.

Finally he reached Umbridge's door and knocked. He didn't know why or even if they were in there anymore. He certainly didn't know what he was going to do if they had been caught. But nobody answered. He knocked again.

Again nobody answered.

Confused he brought is ear to the door to see if he could hear what was going on inside—if anything. There was someone in there. He heard movement and muffled voices—like someone was crying and yelling at the same time. Standing up straight Ron decided to open it.

What he saw was pretty much the entire Inquisitorial Squad laid out all over the floor unconscious—all except for Draco who was being viciously attacked by what he could only guess were bat bogies, that was where the yelling was coming from, and Pansy who was sitting in the corner crying into her robes.

"Finite," Ron said after pulling out his wand. The bat-sized bogies shrank and fell to the floor. All Draco could do was lay there for a few seconds as he presumably tried to figure out what had just happened.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Ron asked offering his hand to Draco. Giving Ron a pointed glare Draco just pushed it away and moved to stand on his own. He glanced over at Goyle who was a few feet to the side with his mouth hanging open and crossed eyes—Ron tried not to smile at the hilarious expression.

"Stupid Potter," Draco cursed as he dusted himself off.

"He's not the one who did that to you is he?" Ron asked and Draco rounded on him with such a sharp stare that Ron could almost feel it pierce his heart.

"No," Pansy wailed. "It was your stupid sister."

Ron felt his cheeks fire up. "She's not…"

"Oh would you just stop your wailing Pansy," Draco yelled irritably running a hand over his face. Ron looked at him in surprise.

"What were they doing in here anyway?" Ron asked slowly.

"How the bloody hell should I know," Draco cursed again. "Why don't you tell us? You were with them when I last saw all of you."

Ron clenched his jaw shut. He didn't want to get into an argument about this here with him. "Harry didn't see fit to include me." Draco just grunted at him and gave him a look that said it didn't matter.

"We caught her snooping in the corridor with Longbottom and," he paused shooting a glance towards Pansy, "Lovegood."

"You mean Loony Lovegood," Pansy said poking Crabb in the stomach.

"Shut up," he yelled at her causing her to jump and pout out her bottom lip. "When we brought them in here Umbridge already had Potter and the Mudblood…"

"Hermione," Ron corrected him.

"Granger then," Draco spat. "Anyway, she had already caught the two of them trying to use her fireplace to floo somewhere."

"Where?" Ron asked. Why hadn't Neville included any of this in his message? The coin was small but still…

"Oh yes because I'm sure that we all just sat down to have a nice cup of tea and discuss what was going through Potter's empty skull." Draco drawled. Pansy let out a snort and Montague let out a groan as he rolled over. Ron tried to ignore it.

"Then where are they now?" He felt panic pushing at the corner of his mind. He made a mental note to try and turn Harry into a frog the next time he saw him—if the idiot survived—for dragging Neville and the girls into Merlin only knew what. Ron had no doubts though that it had something to do with You-Know-Who.

"Sorry," Draco said. "I didn't get a chance to ask them where they were off to before they started flinging curses at us."

"Did they say anything then?" Draco just stared at him sternly.

"They said something about Padfoot," Pansy said still trying to get some sort of reaction from the others. "Remember when Professor Snape was here." She looked up at Draco. Ron felt his blood freeze.

"What did he say about Padfoot," he said anxiously causing Pansy to jump slightly.

"He said 'they've got Padfoot'," she said scrunching her face up trying to remember. Ron was filled with a sudden desire to throttle her for not paying more attention.

"'They've got Padfoot where it's hidden'," Draco said keeping his eyes on Ron.

"The Professor said that he was just babbling though," Pansy said.

Ron wasn't listening to her though. He felt all color drain from his face as he realized what must be happening. Harry's scar hurting enough to cause him to scream from the pain in the middle of an exam; trying to pass a message about Sirius to the Order—the only thing Ron could think of was that You-Know-Who was up to something and so now Harry in all of his glorious stupidity was off to stop him like he always did. But this time Ron wasn't going to be there.

"Ron?" Draco was looking at him worriedly now. Ron couldn't do anything to hide his panic now—heavy breathing, sweat pouring down his face. His mind kept flashing with stories of a dark graveyard, an evil ritual and images of Harry clinging desperately to the body of Cedric Diggory—only this time it was Ginny. This time it was Neville and Luna.

This time it was Hermione.

He started for the door. He had to get to Professor Snape. He had to figure out what was going on and how to stop it and Snape was probably the only one who could help with that. Behind him he heard Draco moving to follow.

"Wait what about these guys?" Pansy yelled after them.

"It's _Ennervate_ you stupid girl," Draco snapped at her as he ran after Ron.

Ron was running again pushing his long legs as fast as he could make them go. Draco was behind him doing his best to keep up. As Ron flew past portraits and down staircases all he could hear was his own brain screaming. Why, why, _why_ did Harry always have to do this? Why couldn't he just be normal for a change? All he had to do was tell a teacher and let them deal with it. There's really never any need for him to go running off to save the day every single time. The _least_ he could do was go by himself instead of dragging everyone else with him.

He was bounding down the marble stairs now back in the entrance hall. He swung around and slingshot himself down the stairs to the dungeon, pushing through a group of Slytherins in the process. His mind barley registered the twist and turns he took to get to Snape's office before he was pounding on the heavy door like a maniac—yelling and screaming causing all sorts of odd glances from the handful of students passing by. It felt like forever before the Professor finally opened the door and by that time Ron caught sight of Draco rounding the corner still in pursuit. Before Ron could say anything though Snape just took him roughly by the collar and pulled him into the room, shutting the door shut just as Draco was approaching.

Snape pushed him into the center of the room and before he could even right himself again was yelling, "You-Know-Who's got Sirius."

There was silence for a minute between the two, the only noise being a loud banging from the door—undoubtedly Draco's way of voicing his opinions about being shut out. Snape ignored it though and just continued staring at Ron, studying him almost. Finally Ron couldn't take it anymore.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"Put your wand away Weasley," Snape said motioning toward the wand Ron still clutched in his hand. "There's no need for it in here."

Ron felt his blood start to boil. "Damnit didn't you hear…"

"Yes I heard you," Snape said in the same calm voice. "And no he doesn't."

Ron felt all of the adrenaline drain from his body at hearing those words. "He doesn't?"

Crossing his arms Snape replied, "Unfortunately."

"But then why is Harry saying…"

"Because Potter decided that he was too good to learn how to protect himself from the Dark Lord properly," Snape sneered.

"What?"

Snape raised an eyebrow at him. Ron didn't now if he was surprised that he was clueless or if that was just his way of saying _Weasley you're an idiot_.

"The Dark Lord and Potter had a connection," Snape said. "A connection that Dumbledore wanted to close up. I was giving him Occulmency lessons." Ron nodded. He knew what Occulmency was. He'd read about it briefly in the book Lupin had given him for Christmas.

"So Harry and You-Know-Who could read each other's minds?" Snape didn't hide his surprise this time though Ron knew he probably subdued it a bit.

"Or project an image they wanted the other to see instead," Snape added. Ron felt himself go cold as he realized the meaning of it all.

"So you're telling me that Harry is dragging everyone into a trap?"

"So it would appear."

"And you're not doing anything about it?"

"What would you have me do Weasley?" Snape asked.

"You could have stopped him"

"Yes well I must admit that I though that woman would be more than capable of managing a handful of children," Snape drawled. "It would appear I was mistaken."

Ron stared at the Professor also as though he'd suddenly sprouted two more heads. "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Why are you just standing around?" Ron yelled again. "We should be going to stop them."

"We aren't going to do anything Weasley," Snape said angrily. "You are going to turn around, walk back out that door and up to your dormitory and forget about Potter and his heroics."

Ron's jaw clenched, so much so that it hurt. He told himself that it would be an automatic suspension if he punched the Professor and even though he deserved it and it would be so satisfying he knew his mother was already going to kill him.

"Ginny's with him," he said simply.

Snape eyed him for a second, as if he was measuring something about the boy in his mind. Then with the tiniest curve at the corner of his lips he said, "Then you should be glad that you aren't there sharing in her stupidity."

Ron felt his face turn boiling hot but before he was able to spout off his mouth the Professor grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the door, opened it and shoved him out. Letting out a yell Ron turned only to have the heavy wooden door slammed in his face. He could feel hot tears building up at the corner of his eyes as he slammed his fists against the door repeatedly, yelling out any profanity that came to mind.

When he ran out of things to say and he started to calm down he became aware of the hole that was being burned into the back of his neck from the angry glare from the blond boy who was undoubtedly leaning against the stone wall across from him. He let out a sigh but didn't turn around. He just stood there, staring at the wood of the door.

In his mind he could hear the seconds ticking away into minutes as he felt the fire that had been burning within him fade out and replace itself with a frozen block of ice right inside his stomach. The two of them just continued to stand there, neither one of them talking until finally Ron couldn't take it anymore.

"Well aren't you going to say anything?" Ron suddenly felt tired. If this was going to be the end he just wanted it to be it over and done with.

"What do you want me to say Weasley?" Draco said. Ron noticed that he sounded tired as well, maybe even more so than Ron. "We both seem to have our priorities all figured out. I just don't appear to be one of yours."

Ron kept quiet. He didn't want to but he did. He wanted to turn around and tell Draco that it wasn't true, that he still meant the world to him, that he'd changed him for the better and all of that other corny stuff he knew Draco would laugh at but love anyway. He didn't say any of that though because he knew this was it. Draco had made his decision and Ron wasn't going to change it.

"That's okay though," Draco continued quietly as Ron heard him push away from the wall. "You're not one of mine anymore either."

As Draco walk away down the hall Ron stood his ground. He didn't turn, didn't yell out for the other to wait. He could feel his heart twisting in his chest but still he stood there, staring at the door to the Professors office. Even after the echo of Draco's footsteps faded he still stood there. It didn't matter that Harry had dragged his sister and their friends off to die anymore. Ron's world just seemed to have gone completely blank. He didn't cry though. That's was the one thing he'd promised himself—that he wasn't going to cry.

He was still standing there hours later when the door in front of him opened up again.

--

A/N: So here it is three months later and I'm finally updating XD Sorry I made all of you wait. I hope you enjoyed it though. Love you.


	35. Year Five: Chapter 35

Year Five: Epilogue

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP , HBP and DH. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**POV: Ronald Weasley; passive**

**Year Five: Chapter 35**

Ron sat on the floor of the Gryffindor dormitory staring at his now empty chest, all of his belongings strewn about him on the floor. This had to have been the hundredth time he'd taken it all out since he had started packing hours before. It was the only way he could think of to keep busy though. He couldn't stop moving because he knew that if he did he'd be forced to think—a very dangerous pass time for him as of late. But even this activity had become so mindless now that unwanted thoughts were able to slip in once and awhile.

It was the last day of term before the Hogwarts Express would take all the students back to London the following day—nearly a week since the end of O.W.L. exams and since Ron had last seen Draco.

Ron had never been able to move from that spot after Draco had left. He had just stood there for hours letting time slip by. Thinking back on it now he cursed himself for being so horribly pathetic. All that time he was standing there feeling sorry for himself Harry and the others were battling Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. While he was standing there feeling sorry for himself Sirius was dying. The nightmares Harry had been suffering through out the year had been bad but the screams that last week were almost too much for Ron to bear.

"Still packing?" Ron was startled out of his dreary thoughts as Neville entered the room. He nodded his silent reply as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Neville of course noticed. "Everything alright?"

"Fine." Of course it wasn't but Ron didn't really feel like taking about it.

"Supper's all over," Neville said. "Didn't see you down there. Not very hungry were you?"

"No."

Ron started mechanically putting stuff back into his chest as Neville walked over and sat on Ron's bed. He didn't say anything, just watched Ron as he packed away his things. After everything was neatly put away Ron just sat there and stared at it again, contemplating about whether he should do it all over again. There was only one thing that still needed to be put away. It was this one thing he had been avoiding the entire time since he'd started.

Ron sighed and stood up. Joining Neville on his bed he reached under his pillow and pulled out a green velvet bag. Neville still sat there watching him in silence as Ron fingered the green fabric. Reaching into the bag he pulled out a length of cloth and a small card. He didn't look at the card; just put it to the side. He knew what it said, would never forget what it said so there was no need to read it again. He turned instead to pick up the small branch that was sitting on his bed side table.

"Are you going to give it back to him?" Neville asked as Ron brought it around.

"Probably should," Ron answered as he slowly started wrapping it with the piece of cloth. "It's pretty important to him."

Neville didn't say anything as they both watched the green leaves disappear underneath the wrapping. Ron gently placed it back into the velvet bag and pulled the drawstrings tight.

"I did a little reading about Sakura trees," Neville said suddenly. Ron didn't say anything. "That branch there comes from a Somei Yoshino Sakura tree. It's said to be the most sacred in Japan." Ron managed to pull his gaze away from the bag in his hands and look up at him but still stayed silent. Neville continued, "In Japan they symbolize loyalty and are most often compared to the samurai."

"What's a samurai?" Ron asked, startling Neville.

"The Samurai were warriors in old Japan. The Japanese see the Sakura as a symbol for them because of the flowers short life span."

"Why's that?"

"Well a fallen cherry blossom symbolizes a fallen Samurai. It's said that a Samurai would spend his entire life preparing for the battle in which he would be killed," Neville said looking down at the green velvet bag. "Sounds like a sad way to live if you ask me."

"Not if it was the type of life they chose," Ron said. "As long as they died fighting for what they really believed in then it would have been alright don't you think?"

"I suppose," Neville said uneasily. They sat in silence again for a few minutes before Neville sighed. "Ron just so you know I don't think you would have made much of a difference if you had come."

"Maybe Sirius would still be alive."

"Or maybe you'd be the one who's dead," Neville said.

"Would that be such a bad thing?"

"Ron," Neville gaped. Ron just smiled.

"Don't worry Neville," he said placing a hand on the others shoulder. "I'm not goin' to do anything stupid so stop thinking that right now."

Neville smiled back at him sheepishly. "I know you wouldn't but please just don't talk like that anymore." They laughed; laughter that sounded strained but it helped to make Ron feel better none the less.

"I do have something to confess though," Neville said after a while.

"Oh."

"When I sent you that message—the one with the coin—we were already half way to the Forbidden Forest." He glanced at Ron, almost as if he was expecting him to do something to him.

"I sort of figured that one out already," Ron said.

"I just didn't want you to get sucked into it along with us. I though that if I sent you to her office then you could maybe patch things up with Draco."

"There wasn't anything I could have done to fix it," Ron said.

"Why not?" Neville asked.

"Just look at the way the worlds going Neville," Ron sighed. "Do you really think anything could work out between me and Draco now?"

"I dunno," he answered. "It just seemed that the two of you were better than all of this. That regardless of how the world turned out you'd still be standing there…together."

"Draco's not strong enough for that sort of thing," Ron said.

"He's one of the strongest people I know," Neville replied.

Ron sighed and lay back across the bed. In the back of his mind he could hear Blaise Zanbini's voice echo out the words spoken to him all those months ago.

"Draco's like a porcelain doll," Ron said. Neville didn't say anything in return though, just nodded but Ron knew he didn't understand the way he did.

Draco is like a porcelain doll. So how much longer would it be before he finally broke?

--

A/N: And so ends year five…finally. You can sort of tell I rushed this one. I apologize.


	36. Year Six: Prologue

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: OOTP , HBP and DH. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**Year Six: Prologue**

_Where am I?_ Even though he was sure he hadn't spoken the words he could still hear them echo about him, bouncing off of the darkness.

And it was dark. Surrounding him were trees not like he could ever remember seeing before. They were thin; their trunks smooth to the touch and green—not brown like he was used to. Circling around they were all he could see, the space beyond them dark and impenetrable.

_I'm dreaming_ he realized.

He took a step forward. Nothing revealed itself to him and so he took another step and then another. He was searching for something he realized. Searching for what he did not know but he knew it was important. He continued on, the trees the only things emerging out of that darkness but still he moved forward.

A light breeze blew past and even though he was sweating he felt goose bumps rise from his skin. He was afraid, the cold grip of fear clutching at his chest though he had no idea what he was so afraid of.

Ahead he could make out a faint light penetrating the darkness. He continued towards it the air surrounding him growing colder with every step he took. Already he could see his breath in the clear crisp air. Then without warning the trees parted and before him were a set of stairs. They rose up, where they lead Ron could not see but he could tell that the light was coming from the top of those stairs—or maybe the stairs themselves. It was hard for him to tell. The air was as now frigid and Ron's limbs felt stiff and heavy.

_This is a place of death_.

The thought entered his mind before he could stop it. He took a step back. What if that was where these stairs lead him? What if they showed him his death?

He reached into his left sleeve for his wand only to find it wasn't there. Of course it wouldn't be there though he thought as he finally just realized that he was wearing his pajamas. Was this really a dream after all?

He stood there undecided until at the top of the stars he saw a person. With the light shining behind them he all he could make out was a silhouette but even still he could distinctly make out a set of large robes. Robes he'd seen somewhere before—somewhere in another dream.

The figure turned and disappeared and then small little pale specks began to fall. Carried to him by the wind he could tell that they were flower petals—small pink flower petals—sakura petals. He held out his hand, letting them brush past his fingertips in their decent.

He started to run. It was hard for him to make his frozen legs move but he did, calling out to her the entire way. When he finally reached the top he was taken aback and his breath caught in his throat he laid his eyes on the most amazingly beautiful tree he'd ever seen.

It was large—very large, huge even, the top of its branches reaching over 15 meters easily—and it was covered in pale pink flowers. He stood there, entrance by its magnificence.

Slowly he began to step towards it, reaching out his hand as though he hope to touch it—to feel if something so beautiful could really exist. Before he could reach it though he felt something wet drip onto his cheek.

To say it had startled him would be an understatement as he nearly jumped out of his skin. He brought his hand up to wipe it from his face. He brought his fingers down to look at it—eyes widening in realization.

Looking up he saw her. Spread over the lowest branches, her pale hand reaching for him—drenched in her own blood. In the middle of her breast was a gapping hole, the pristine robes dyed the color of the deepest red. She stared at him; her face contorted in agony—her lips moving in a silent plea.

He stumbled backwards, his mouth opening to let out a scream of terror that never quite made it out. His throat tightened and heart stopped when he felt someone grab him from behind, holding his right wrist and grasping his chin—forcing his eyes to stay focused on her.

"Aren't the cherry blossoms lovely?" he heard a familiar voice in his ear.

He tried to turn his head to see who his captor was but they held his head fast. Desperately he clawed at their grasp with his free hand but to no avail. They tighten their grip and brought his hand back so that they could press their lips against it. A sharp pain shot through his hand and up his arm and he felt the other's lips move from his hand to his neck. All the while all Ron could do was stare into her deep green eyes. A burning heat filled his entire body as he felt the other lips move down his neck to his shoulder.

"What fire you have," he heard the other one say. "No wonder he's so taken by you." Suddenly the pain returned to his hand in white hot bursts. Tearing his throat he let out a horrible scream and with all of his strength pulled himself way from his holder.

He felt his head hit the floor and there was a mass of blankets suffocating him as he tried to free himself. Finally his lungs filled with the warm air of the Gryffindor dormitory as he continued to tear himself free from the layers of fabric—the curtains from his bed being pulled down as he fell. He lt out a terrified cry as he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright Ron," he heard Neville's familiar voice fill his ears. "Just calm down and we'll get you untangled."

"What the hell's going on?" someone said from the other side of the room.

Ron finally managed to pull his hand free and brought it up for him to look at. Pulling at the sleeve of his pajamas he was able to see that nothing was there thought he could still feel a tingly sensation were the burning had been.

"I's jus' Ron," he heard another say. "Probably jus' had a spider in bed with 'im."

"Are you alright?" Neville asked. Ron felt his heart slow down as he realized that it had all really been just a dream.

"Yeah," he heaved as he ran a hand through his hair. "Bad dream tha's all."

"Must have been some heck of a bad dream," Neville sighed, keeping his voice down as the rest tried to get back to sleep.

"It seemed so real though," Ron whispered, looking down at his hand again. It was cool now, like nothing had ever happened.

"What sort of dream was it?" Neville asked.

"For heaven's sake," they heard Harry moan from over in the next bed. "Would the two of you just shut up? There are some of us who are trying to sleep."

Ron and Neville looked at each other and without another word finished untangling Ron from his blankets. Silently they moved back to their beds both knowing that there would be plenty of time to discuss it the next day. Morning would be the start of a new year and they both needed their sleep.

After such a dream though Ron knew that sleep would be very hard to come by.

--

A/N: o.O I wonder where that came from. Sorry that updates are so slow. I promise that I'm working on this more than you think. I actually wasn't going to start Year Six with this but I can't figure out how to put together chapter one…I've written it about five times and I still hate it…so I decided to try this way out instead…hope you guys like it. I'll try to get the next part up soon.


	37. Year Six: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Chapter Rating: PG**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: HBP. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**Year Six: Chapter One**

_Dear Draco,…._

Ron paused, his quill hovering over the piece of parchment, lips pursed together in frustration. Even after one whole month he still couldn't think of what to write—what he could say.

He shifted uncomfortably as the rickety old chair squeaked in protest and the old lamp flickered as if it too wished to be left alone at such an ungodly hour. Behind him he could hear Harry's soft even breathing as he slept thankfully undisturbed. Ron once again held back a groan as he was reminded of the others presence.

The idea of having to share his room with Harry again was enough to make him sick when his mother had informed him that he would be spending the summer with them again. Now that he was there it was all Ron could do to keep himself from throwing the other out the window half the time.

Carefully Ron leaned back in his chair and brought his quill up to brush against his lips. He didn't know why but doing that always helped him think—or at least he'd liked to think it did.

He knew Draco would love to get one of those sappy love letters overflowing with poetry and _I love you_'s but Ron wasn't very good at coming up with those sort of things. Draco was always into corny things like that though. Ron could never figure out why.

He looked back at the blank parchment. All of the events from the year before played trough his head again. It was like watching the same horrible train wreck over and over again. Ron couldn't help but think that maybe his relationship with Draco had all just been a terrible mistake—that it shouldn't have happened. The only thing it had seemed to have done was make both their lives miserable.

Ron clenched his jaw, biting the inside of his mouth in the process. He didn't like thinking that way. True the whole thing started off with what Draco probably thought was going to be a sick twisted way to fuck with his head but it had still meant something to them. Ron was different—changed in a way he didn't even fully understand yet and there was no doubt in his mind that Draco felt the same way. If it just wasn't for the way the world was Ron knew that they'd have been happy.

Maybe if Ron had just left everything alone—had just stayed out of it Draco wouldn't be avoiding him. All Ron was trying to do was protect the others from Harry's stupidity but Draco just saw it as some sort of betrayal.

That's where he was. Knowing all of that he was stuck trying to figure out what it was Draco would want to hear—or read in this case. Dipping his quill into the ink bottle on the desk Ron began to write the first word, slowly so as not to blotch it in any way. Even if it was pointless to say he at least wanted it to look perfect.

As he examined it he started to think that maybe everything that happened wasn't the only thing to cause the collapse in their relationship. Draco had said it himself after all. That sooner or later they would have to go back to the way things used to be even though logic told them that it would be impossible for that to happen now. Ron knew that there wasn't anyway that Draco could ever go back to being just Malfoy in Ron's mind—no way that everything they'd been through could just be erased from his mind.

He continued to the second word.

The more he thought about it the more he came to realize something about Draco though it was really something he had discovered a long time ago. Draco Malfoy was a complicated person. Ron knew that everything Draco did—everything he said, was carefully thought out and planned. Nothing he did was spontaneous even when he was angry. Ron had always thought that that was what was the most different between the two of them.

The same was true now. The two of them were where they were because Draco planned it that way. All Ron had to figure out was why. Why had Draco dragged the two of them down this road? Or was Ron completely wrong and they were the first spontaneous thing Draco had done?

He looked over his simple message, wondering now if it was the right thing to tell Draco or if it would even be enough to change the way things were now. After a month of stressing over it he felt that it was the best he could do for now—and it would have to do. He carefully signed his name and folded the parchment.

Rummaging through the piles of unanswered letters Ron found a small stick of red wax. Pulling the cover off of the lamp he used the candle flame to melt a few drops onto the parchment to seal it. Blowing on the red dot gently to cool it he stood up and walked across the room to where Pig was sleeping silently in his cage.

Taking the entire cage before the tiny owl was able to fully wake up he then exited the bedroom and made his way down the stairs. It was still too early for either of his parents to be awake so he moved quickly before Pig was able to start his usual frantic flapping. Once he was standing on the porch he placed the now completely away Pig on top of an old pile of newspapers and slipped the letter in through the bars of the cage.

It took a couple seconds for the excited bird to grab it but when he finally did Ron leaned in close and said, "Now you listen good Pig. This letter is for Draco you hear me." To Ron's astonishment Pig actually managed to calm down enough so that he was just sitting on his perch—still twitching with excitement of course. "I don't want you to give it to anybody else. Make sure he gets it." The little owl gave a loud hoot, seemingly not at all muffled by the parchment in his mouth, which Ron took to mean he understood.

Standing straight again Ron opened the cage door and almost immediately Pig came flying out. Flying in random circles for a minute he let out mouthfuls of squeaks before flying off in what Ron hoped was the direction of the Malfoy Manor. Ron watched him go. Sitting down on the porch steps he watched as the little owl quickly became a small speck in the lightening sky.

He continued staring long after Pig was gone, the sky growing lighter with the coming of dawn. He could just about make out the first glimpse of the sun coming over the horizon when he heard the door behind him open and someone step out. He didn't have to turn and look to know that it was his mother.

"Oh it's you Ron," she said letting out a small sigh. "Good heavens what are you doing awake this early in the morning?"

"Couldn't sleep," he said, never taking his eyes from the rising sun. His mother stepped away from the door and sat down beside him, letting out a groan as she did. Ron didn't question her about it. He knew his mother didn't like talking about her age and all the aches that came with it. She took a moment to rub her knees.

"Any particular reason why not?" she asked.

"Just thinking about stuff," he said.

"Ah." He knew she wouldn't question much farther than that. After all, it didn't take a genius to figure out what sort of stuff he'd be thinking about. She sat there with him for a while, both of them silent as they watched the sunrise. Finally she broke the silence.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

He sighed and shook his head. His mother smiled and looked back at the horizon.

"It'll be alright," she said finally, letting out a tired sigh. "Things will get better."

"Will they?" He didn't mean to sound so defeated. He turned to look at his mother and she too turned to look him in the eye. Her smile was sad.

"I'd like to think so," she said placing her hand on his and held it there for a brief moment before she let out another tired sigh and stood up. "Well I guess I'd best be getting my day started if I want your father to eat a decent breakfast before he goes off to work." She turned back to the front door as Ron stood to follow her. He stopped for a second though and took one last look at the sunrise.

In his mind he tried to picture Pig making his way to Malfoy Manor and Draco's reaction when he read his tiny message. He felt his lips moving to silently repeat the words to himself. _I'm Sorry._

Behind him he heard the door slam shut as his mother entered the house.

--

A/N: Well several months later and after what feels like about one hundred rewrites here it is.


	38. Year Six: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.**

**Title: Sakura**

**Pairing: RWxDM**

**Chapter Rating: PG**

**Warnings: Slash, Angst**

**Spoilers: HBP. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.**

**Year Six: Chapter Two**

"Oh where on earth did those three get off to," Mrs. Weasley said, ringing her hands together anxiously. Ron and his mother made their way through the streets of Diagon Alley, both looking this way and that for any sign of Harry, Hermione and Ginny. "Ronald please tell me…did I not say to stay with me?"

"Of course you did mum," he said. He caught sight of Neville and his grandmother leaving Olivander's. Returning the others wave only halfheartedly he was reminded of the numerous letters that still covered his desk at home—all remained unopened.

"Oh when I get my hands on that Harry," his mother said. Ron thought about asking her to leave some for him but thought better of it.

They were coming up level with Gringotts when the three of them appeared almost as if out of nowhere—though Ron had a pretty good guess that they had been hiding under Harry's invisibility cloak. His mother didn't seem to care about the abnormal return as she hugged each and every one of them.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," she said as she pulled away from Harry and looked him sternly in the eye. "Do you hear me? Don't ever do that again."

"Malfoy's up to something," Harry blurted out, pulling away from her next hug. "We tailed him all the way to Borgin & Burkes…"

"You what!!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. Ginny of course had to jump in.

"We were under Harry's invisibility cloak," she said. "Nobody saw us so we were perfectly safe." Mrs. Weasley just glared angrily at her.

"You went into Knockturn Alley ALONE!!" Ron could have sworn that he just saw his mother's eyes almost pop out of their sockets.

"Malfoy's planning something," Harry tried again. Ron felt his face burn, from hearing Draco's name or from anger, he didn't know. He looked at Hermione who had been quiet since they found them. She only turned away, not able to look at him.

"I don't care," Mrs. Weasley yelled at Harry. "I told you not to leave my sight."

"But mum," Ginny said. "We really do think Malfoy's planning something. He's even got the dark mark." Ron felt his heart stop and his blood turn cold. Draco's got the dark mark?

"You mean the two of you only think he has the Dark Mark," Hermione snapped, finally coming out of her silent vigil.

"Well he showed that guy something that scared him," Ginny said.

"That doesn't mean it was the Dark Mark," Ron said quickly, bringing everyone's attention towards him.

"That's enough," Mrs. Weasley said cutting off Harry's next remark. "Now lets go—no Harry I'll not hear another word of it." She ushered the four of them down the street. Hermione grabbed the edge of his sleeve as she passed him to get his attention. When he looked at her she gave him a small reassuring smile that oddly made his heart jump.

"Don't worry Ron," she said quietly, almost as if she was trying to hide what she was about to say from Harry and the others. "I'm almost positive that he doesn't have it." He managed a tiny nod and then she was gone, moving to catch up with the others. He didn't really find her words reassuring.

Ron strayed behind a few steps, not really interested in hearing his mother lecturing the others, nor was he interested in hearing more of Harry and Ginny's Dark Mark story.

Hermione was right. It was a ridiculous idea anyway. Ron certainly couldn't fathom why You-Know-Who would want to initiate the sixteen year old son of a washed up Death Eater into his ranks. What on earth could it possibly gain him anyway?

Ron was so lost in this train of thought that he stopped paying attention to where he was going so it was no surprise when he found himself colliding with another person.

"Oy, why don't you watch where you're going," Ron turned and spouted off, ignoring the fact that it was really his own fault.

"Gomen Nasai," the other said, bowing ever so slightly. He was tall, nearly as tall as Ron, with broad shoulders and short black hair. He wore a dark gray muggle suit and he was wearing sunglasses even though the sky was clouded over.

"What did you just call me?" Ron said angrily.

"Oh I meant to say _I'm sorry_," the man said with a pleasant smile. He spoke with an Asian accent.

"Everything alright Ron," his mother called from the front of the group, who had all stopped at hearing his outburst. "I'm sorry sir but he isn't causing you any trouble is he?" she pushed herself passed Harry and the girls to stand beside Ron.

"No ma'am it was my fault," he continued and held out his hand to Ron who only just stared at it. "I'm sorry but I thought it was custom for two to shake hands when they first meet." Ron eyed him, trying to peer past his glasses. Finally he took the others outstretched hand. "Sakurazuka Sieshiro," he introduced himself as he removed his sunglasses with his free hand. Ron immediately felt the blood in his veins freeze.

He found himself staring into one gleaming red eye and one pale grayish eye that was obviously made of glass. As he stood there Ron felt as if he was being sucked into some sort of dark void feeling his lungs constrict, making it hard to breath. He managed to mumble "Ronald…" but before he could finish the introduction his mother stepped in.

"I'm sorry sir but we are in something of a hurry." She looped her arm around Ron's to pull him away. Ron thought he saw the other man's now brown eye flash an angry glare at his mother.

"Of course" he said smiling and Ron wondered if he'd imagined it. "The school year is fast approaching after all. Must make sure you have everything you need."

Mrs. Weasley smiled nervously and nodded. "Yes of course."

"It was a pleasure meeting you Ronald-san," Seishiro said, slightly nodding his head before he moved to walk past. Ron turned to watch him disappear into the crowd.

"Very well then," his mother said with a sigh. "C'mon then lets be getting off." She turned, trying to direct Ron to follow—but Ron wouldn't move.

Across the street in the direction Seishiro had just left was Draco Malfoy, adjusting his left sleeve—the sleeve he kept his wand tucked away in.

"Ronald," his mother chided as he broke out of her grip and started to make his way over to the blond.

From a distance Draco didn't look very well. Ron could see that his usually well groomed hair was falling onto his face which also looked incredibly pale.

Draco had no doubt seen him since he turned and started to walk away in the opposite direction. Ron quickened his pace, ignoring his mother's yelling for him to "get back this instant."

"Oy, Draco," He yelled as he closed in on the other. Draco didn't stop—didn't even slowdown.

"OY!" Ron yelled again, louder this time, as he came up behind him. "DRACO!" Ron reached for the other, grabbing his shoulder to pull him around.

"God Weasley," Draco said, pushing Ron away from him. "Can't you get the fucking hint?" Ron was about to push him back but thought better of it once he got a good look at the dark circles under the other's eyes. Any insult he had ready fell from his lips.

"Merlin Draco, you look terrible."

"Well maybe you don't look too pretty yourself," he spat back but still brought a hand up to brush his hair away from his face. His sleeve fell away to reveal the most horrid sight Ron could ever remember seeing. Without any warning he grabbed hold of Draco's wrist and pulled it closer for him to see it better.

"What the hell do you think you're…?" Draco started but stopped when he realized what Ron was looking at, an expression of horror taking over his own face.

On the back of Draco's right hand was a mark in the shape of a five pointed star. It was red and bleeding—almost as though someone had just taken a knife and carved it into his skin.

"Draco what the hell is this?" Ron asked. Behind him he could hear his mother and the others getting closer. Draco didn't answer him though. He just continued to stare at it—like it was the first time he was seeing it himself.

Ron pulled the sleeve of his robe down passed his hand and pressed it against the wound making sure to apply pressure just like Hermione had shown him once before. He pulled Draco closer so he could speak more quietly.

"Draco you didn't do this to yourself did you?" To Ron the question sounded absurd but he asked it none-the-less. Draco still didn't answer though, just tried to pull himself away. Ron tightened his grip and refused to let go.

"Draco?" he asked but all of a sudden the mark began to burn him through the fabric of his sleeve.

Yelling out Ron pulled his hand away and Draco quickly covered it with his own. Ron managed a quick glance at Draco's pain expression before the other boy turned and began to make his escape mumbling, "I've got to go." He was getting ready to run after him but was stopped by the firm hand of his mother grabbing hold of his arm and yanking him around to face her.

"What part of get back here don't you understand," she said angrily—her face all red from her hurrying after him.

"But mum Draco…" Ron started trying to turn so he could try to see where Draco had gone off to.

"I don't care," she said pulling him back around. "Didn't we just get though this with Harry and the other two? Did I not say stay with me?"

"But mum…"

"Don't _but mum_ me," she said taking hold of his hand that he had been cradling and pulling the sleeve up out of the way so she could look at it. There wasn't anything wrong with it Ron noticed but it did have a little blood on it that must have leaked through from Draco's hand. His mother looked back up at him—worried now.

"Mum," Ron started—pulling his hand away from her as Ginny and Hermione pushed their way up closer to see. "I think there's something the matter with Draco."

His mother looked at him sadly and he turned to look back the way Draco had gone—but there was no sign of him.

--

A/N: I have to say I haven't been this satisfied with a chapter in a very long time.

Also sorry for the small Hermione/Ron moment (I have to admit that I ship them almost as rabidly as I ship Ron/Draco XD) It'll happen from time to time but not very often I promise and it'll always be small.

Next chapter should be up a little quicker since it's already written. I just have to type it up (I do most of my writing during break time at work XD) I think it's good more or less the way it is but we'll see when I read through it again.

Also, can you believe it's been over a year since I started writing this story? O.o It doesn't feel like it.


End file.
